Replaced
by Skate-815
Summary: What if Angel had returned earlier in Season 7? What would be everyones reactions? And will he replace Spike? Starts during potential and runs through to chosen. Spuffy pairing. On semi permanent hiatus
1. Return of the original souled vamp

**A/N: Hey everyone, this is my first Buffy fic, although I already have 2 Angel ones and a few others on other tv shows. I hope you like this one**

**Spoilers: Everything in Buffy really, and I've decided to ignore all happenings in Angel all together as I've only seen the first and last seasons.**

**Replaced Chapter 1**

Angel drove into Sunnydale, feeling more than slightly nervous. He hadn't seen Buffy since their meeting after she'd returned from the dead, and he was terrified of the reactions of both her and her Scoobies. He parked his car near her house, but lost his courage at the last second, deciding to go to one of the cemeteries to fight something and calm his nerves. When he was less than a block from the nearest cemetery, Angel heard a girl scream in a high pitched voice. Angel immediately began to sprint to the source of the noise, running through the open cemetery gates. He paused momentarily as he saw Spike holding a girl close to him, fangs bared. He'd thought that Spike had fled town after losing the ring of Amara, but appearantly, he was back. He didn't dwell on the thought though, realising a young woman's life was in danger.

He ran straight into Spike, tackling him and bringing the young girl down with them. She soon scrambled up and ran for safety. Angel grabbed Spike's collar.

"You should have stayed away." He said softly, glaring into Spike's blue eyes.

"Get off me you Ponce." Spike said, struggling. Angel opened his mouth to reply when he heard a voice exclaim,

"Angel!" Angel's head twitched up and was surprised to see Buffy standing above them both.

"Buffy! What're you doing here?" Angel asked,

"I live here Angel. Let him up" Buffy commanded, much to Angel's surprise.

"What?"

"You heard the girl, let me up." Spike said, resuming his struggling from below Angel. Angel stood up; releasing Spike from his grip and stood back to allow him room to stand too.

"Did you know he was back in Sunnydale?" Angel asked

"I've been back for over three years now." Spike said dryly,

"What're you doing here?" Buffy asked Angel

"Well… There's nothing much happening in L.A. and I heard from my resources that the First was back."

"You heard right." Buffy said, still unsure how much use Angel would be when he heard about her and Spike's relationship the year before. If it could even be called a relationship. She was already wondering what she would say to the complicated questions that Angel would undoubtedly ask

"So… why aren't we staking him?" Angel said nodding at Spike. Questions like that.

"He's one of the good guys now." Buffy said,

"A good guy! He's a vampire!"

"Takes one to know one." Spike said looking at Angel with disgust.

"I have a soul."

"So do I."

"What?" Angel said, staring at him

"You heard me Peaches, I have a soul, and it's permanent too." He said, smirking. Angel looked from him to Buffy who nodded in confirmation and suddenly he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was used to being individual. The _only _vampire with a soul, ever. Then suddenly he caught sight of a group of girls holding clipboards, one of which being the girl he'd just rescued.

"Ah, Buffy… Who're they?" Buffy glanced over her shoulder to see who he was talking about and said,

"Slayers in Training."

"Right…" he said, looking dazed, "and you're training them?" he guessed correctly. Buffy nodded in confirmation.

" Do you have anywhere I can stay tonight? Because sunrise is coming pretty soon…" he said

'No, of course you can stay with us." Buffy said, glancing at Spike, who was looking annoyed, "We're a bit tight for space. Maybe you and Spike can share…" At once there was an uproar from both of them,

"The Poofter is not staying in the same room as me!" Spike snapped

"He sleeps in your house!" Angel exclaimed

"He stays in the basement, and unless one of you would rather sleep with Xander…"

"Fine." They both muttered in a defeated tone, glaring at each other again.

"We'll have to cut our lesson short today." Buffy announced to the confused looking Potentials, "We'll have a longer one tomorrow, and maybe Angel'll help out with that too…" Angel nodded, annoying Spike even more. Looked like the Poofter would be sticking around for a while.

**A/N: So what do you think of it? If you like it, say so, if not, I probably won't continue with this fic.**


	2. Night time

**A/N: Thanks all so much for your reviews in the last chapter. It's by far the most I've ever recieved for anything I've ever written so big thanks to- Vikki, willow-wiccan, BuffyBc, wwefan01, the-tangoing-mango-addict (cool name btw), Ashleigh, ness345, Mony19, Moluvsnumber17 and Nights-girl!**

**To answer a couple of questions, it is indeedy a Spuffy fic and the last chapter was the start of Potential in the 7th season.**

Chapter 2

A few hours later, Buffy walked around the darkened house, checking that all the doors were locked and the windows were secured. Not that would make a difference to any demon that would come, but it still made her feel safer, made her feel securer. Just like her mother had checked all of the locks before she went to sleep each night, before her death.

She paused at the door of every room they were using for bedrooms; listening to make sure all was well. She heard whispers from the potential's room, probably them discussing the latest vampire with a soul's arrival. It must have been confusing for them. Before they'd reached Sunnydale, those with any training had been forced to believe that all vampires were evil. All should be staked on sight. Then, upon their arrival, they hear of her plans to rescue Spike, the vampire with a soul from the clutches of the enemy. That must have left them quite confused. After Spike returned, safe and well, she'd told them all that under no circumstances were they to stake him. Even though it was possible he'd turn evil at any second, she couldn't bear the thought of Spike being killed by a junior slayer wannabe, because of something the First had done.

Of course, now that Angel was back, she had instantly told all Potentials that he was off limits as well. The original vampire with a soul was an important new addition to the group, and now that he was here, Buffy knew that victory was looking more likely. With a slayer, a witch, a watcher, a Key, a group of potential slayers and _two_ vampires with souls, their chances had never been better.

Yet there would be the inevitable questions from everyone, not just Angel. Undoubtedly both of her vampires would question the need for the other now that they're back. Living together after all these years would be tough, Buffy knew that, yet she needed both in their own individual way. If one had to go, the logical choice would be Spike. He was a danger to the group, his mere presence settling most people on edge. Angel was the stronger and older vampire, adding experience to the team and with him here, the only reason for having Spike around was no longer valid.

Except she couldn't just throw him out after everything he'd done for her, everything he felt for her. And to be honest, she didn't want to see him go. Couldn't stand the thought of losing him forever.

BtVS BtVS BtVS BtVS BtVS BtVS BtVS

She completed the rest of her rounds and ended up outside the basement door.

She hesitated beside it, not wanting to look as if she was checking up on either of them, but needing to check that everything was alright. Ever since the whole first taking control of Spike thing, she found herself needing to look in at him every night, telling herself it was for everyone's safety. However, sometimes she spent longer than necessary there, just standing at the top of the steps, gazing at his unconscious form. She'd always found his breathing odd. As a vampire, he shouldn't need to, but he always did when he was sleeping. Angel never did.

Cautiously, she opened the door a little and peeked inside. Both vampires were fast asleep, Spike in his usual place and Angel on a bunk she'd set up at the opposite side of the room. Both were on their sides, facing away from the other as if they wanted to forget they were there. Sure enough, Angel was lying completely still, looking like a corpse, while Spike's chest was rising and falling steadily. Buffy's eyes flicked from one vampire to the other, letting her eyes rest on Spike for a moment before slipping out and shutting the door softly behind her.

**A/N: Quite an uneventful chapter but nevertheless, review if you liked it or hated it. Inspire me to write more :D**


	3. Potential

**A/N: A big thanks to ness345, Vikki, BuffyBc, Mony19, Gotta have Faith 13, Nights-girl, the-tangoing-mango-addict, Moluvsnumber17 and wwefan for reviewing!**

**Oh and Moluvsnumber17, I agree but they don't know that yet lol**

**Especially thanks to the-tangoing-mango-addict for being really nice and Vikki, whos always reviewed my fics:D**

**Warning, there is a little Bangle in this chapter, well more than a little, but I felt it had to happen and I thought I may as well get it over with lol**

Chapter 3

"You can't just swan in here Peaches and expect to take over!" Spike snapped as the two vampires climbed the basement stairs.

"Buffy wants me here." Angel replied shortly.

"She wants me here too!" Spike protested. They both stopped at the door, neither willing to have Buffy see them arguing and add more stress to her day.

"Then why does Xander think that she's only putting up with you out of pity?" Angel said, smirking. He didn't know what it was about Spike that made him feel the need to win every argument, no matter how childish it made them both seem. Spike had always been able to push his buttons, always been able to make him angry in ways he didn't know was possible. Normally, he would just hit him, now he felt hurting him with Buffy would do just as well.

"Xander knows nothing." Spike said, pushing the door open and walking out, not wanting to let Angel know how his comment had affected him. Ever since Angel's return the night before, he had been thinking the same thing. What exactly was his use now that Angel was here? Now that the vampire with a soul quota had been filled, was it now his time to leave Sunnydale for good? Is that what Buffy would want?

He entered the kitchen, Angel hot on his heels and looked around, seeing a meeting was going on. They were beginning to leave him out of the important stuff already. Not that they ever really had included him… Not the way they'd always included Angel.

"What's going on?" Angel asked. He also sounded annoyed at being left out.

"The Seers have located a new potential." Buffy filled them in, "She's in Sunnydale. I don't think we'll go ahead with the training tonight."

"One of us could stay behind, and come and find you when Willow knows more." Spike suggested, feeling the sudden urge to prove himself useful.

"Thanks Spike." Buffy smiled weakly at him.

"So it's settled then, me and you for training tonight?" Angel suggested. Buffy nodded silently. Spike sighed. Replacement couldn't be far away.

Angel and Buffy had been gone for about an hour, and Spike was starting to regret his bright idea. Buffy and Angel pretty much alone together was never a good thing. Not in Spike's book anyway. He glanced up as Willow, Xander, Anya and Dawn entered the living room and he fell back into his state of self loathing. He watched the duration of the spell in silence, and rolled his eyes at its spectacular failure. He couldn't even rush to tell Buffy where the new potential was now.

He heard the worried Wicca complain about the failed spell, wondering why it didn't work. He saw Dawn look at him worriedly, and ignored her, not feeling much like talking today. Today's the day he'd become completely useless. Dawn rose silently and went to open the door trying to clear out the unpleasant smell the failed spell had left

Suddenly, the gas shot forward, straight to the door, pinning Dawn against it. Spike was instantly on his feet, running towards her, knowing just what Buffy would do to him if Dawn was hurt while under his care.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. The others followed him out, Willow with a look of awe on her face.

"She's more than alright." She said, "She could be the next Slayer!" For the first time, Spike noticed the light pulsing around Dawn. He'd been too concerned for her safety to think about it before. He looked at everyone assembled in the room, no one knowing what to do next, before he lifted his coat and Buffy's cell phone and said,

"I'll go get Buffy." Before sweeping out the door.

Meanwhile, Buffy had made a decision that could make or break an army, and had left her barely trained Potentials alone with a vampire. And not one of the cuddly variety, like Spike or Angel. She was really wondering if she'd done the right thing as she heard the Potentials' screams of terror. Angel laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He'd always been able to tell what was bothering her.

"They'll be fine." He said softly.

"But how can they be? They'll never be fine again after tonight. If they lose, they'll be seriously injured, or dead, and if they win, they'll realise that this really is a war." Buffy said, still staring at the closed door.

"They're stronger than you give them credit for," Angel said wisely, "Once upon a time, I bet you were the same."

"Maybe." Buffy admitted, turning to face him

"And you turned out great." Angel went on. Was it just Buffy's imagination, or was Angel leaning closer to her? She wasn't. Angel's lips softly brushed against hers and Buffy didn't know what to do. She didn't know where things stood with Spike. She didn't even know if she wanted to kiss Angel.

She yanked back as she heard someone clear their throat. She turned her head slowly, silently praying it wasn't Spike. Unfortunately for both of them it was.

"What?" Angel asked, not looking in the least embarrassed, just annoyed that the moment had been ruined.

"The new potential…" Spike said, looking down at the ground, unable to look at Buffy in case she saw the hurt that lay in his eyes, "It's Dawn."

"What?" she asked, looking disbelieving, "It can't be. Willow must have done it wrong!" she looked to Angel for confirmation, "She must have!"

"I'm sorry Buffy" Spike said softly, "Really I am. I was there. The Wicca did it right."

"But… but… she's my sister." Buffy looked helplessly from one vampire to the other, "She can't be a Potential. What if she gets hurt? What if she dies?"

"I don't know…" Spike said, feeling equally helpless. Angel opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the cell phone ringing. Spike threw it to Buffy, knowing it was probably news about Dawn. She caught it deftly and answered.

"Gone? What do you mean gone? How did this happen? Right, we'll meet you there." She hung up.

"What happened?" Angel asked

"Well I'm guessing Dawn's gone." Spike said,

"I know that." Angel snapped, "Gone where?"

"Willow did a tracking spell. She's at the High School." Buffy said in a shaking voice.

"Let's go" Angel said, starting to walk away.

"Actually." Buffy called out, "Angel, I need you here, to take the Potentials home."

"Can't Spike do that?" he asked irritably

"No, he can't." Buffy said firmly, "Come on Spike," and the pair left the building together, both vampires feeling confused.

**A/N: Confused about anything? Review and I'll try to clarify. Not confused about anything? Review anyway, telling me what you like, dislike and just plain hate about it lol. I'll try to update soon**


	4. Useless

**I'm assuming those reading this fic have actually seen season 7 and have a decent memory of what happened, as you may have guessed by now, I'm not really writing everything that happens, I'm assuming you can all fill in the blanks. **

**This chapter continues after they find out Amanda is the real potential and not Dawn.**

**Thank you to the-tangoing-mango-addict, wwefan01, Bloody Vampyre Mistress, john725, willow-wiccan,FeralShadowwolf, Vikki, Mony19 and Buffy BC for reviewing **

**Oh and this chapter is quite short again, but this time its not my fault, because I wrote it on pen and paper during a powercut.**

Buffy walked inside, followed by a weary looking Dawn and Spike. They were greeted by Anya.

"So what happened?" she asked,

"Dawn's not the potential." Spike said bluntly, pushing past all of them and going down to the basement. Buffy looked after him in concern, knowing she'd hurt him when he walked in on Angel and her kissing.

"What? Who is then?" Anya asked,

"Dawn will explain. I need to talk to Spike." She replied, following him down to the basement.

"I'm not a potential, it's a girl in my class instead." Dawn said, looking quite disappointed.

"Well don't worry," Anya began in a comforting tone, "at least you're not going to die young"

"Thanks Anya." Dawn smiled weakly

"But then again, being the slayer's sister, what hope do you really have?" Anya went on.

"Thank you Anya." Dawn repeated firmly

"And really, being the slayer would have given you a better chance of survival with that super strength …"

"Anya, shut up." Dawn said.

"I was only saying…" Just then Angel walked in, the group of potentials tailing behind him.

"Where's Buffy?" he asked shortly.

"Downstairs with Spike. What's with everyone today? They have no people skills!" Anya complainned

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike stormed into the basement, dropping onto his small bed, reaching for the chains that hung nearby and started to chain himself to the wall.

'Spike!" Buffy called, taking the steps two at a time.

"What?" he snapped annoyed at the bitterness he could hear in his voice.

"We need to talk about this."

"Talk about what? What you and Peaches get up to in your spare time's nothing to do with me."

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that. You weren't supposed to see."

"Well it did happen like that and I did see." Spike said, struggling to keep all the emotion out of his voice, trying to act his usual cocky self.

"We need to talk about this." Buffy repeated and sat down beside him

"There's nothing to talk about. Now I'm tired, so if you'd excuse me." He nodded towards the door, however he was really hoping she'd stay. Hoping she'd tell him that he was the one she really wanted. Needing her to say she'd send Angel back to where he belonged. In that moment, Angel chose to make his entrance, letting the basement door bang open, wanting to make his presence known to all.

"Can we talk?" he asked Buffy, descending the stairs.

"Ah… Sure." She replied, looking apologetically at Spike.

"In private." Angel said, staring at Spike pointedly

"In case you haven't noticed mate, I'm stuck here." Spike said, clinking his chains to prove his point. Angel looked from the chains to Spike and back again, before finally saying,

"Okay, I give up. What's with the chains?"

"They're just a precaution." Buffy brushed off

"What do you mean precaution?" Angel asked, "I thought you said your soul was permanent."

"It is!" Spike protested, "For the most part anyway."

"The most part? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It just means that the first can occasionally control Spike. But they've gone into remission now anyway. So it should be okay."

"You let him sleep in your house when he could just decide to kill any of you whenever he feels like it?" Angel asked, pure disbelief in his voice.

"It's not his fault Angel."

"Does it matter? He's not safe."

"We need him." Buffy snapped. She'd known that this would come up eventually, but she'd hoped to not have this conversation in front of Spike.

"You used to need him. I'm back now." Angel stated, finally saying what everyone was thinking. Buffy glanced down at Spike, ready to back up whatever he said, for despite knowing what Angel said was at least partly true, she needed Spike there. She just wasn't ready to not have him around. However, Spike didn't have a snappy retort. He glanced at the vampire slayer with sad eyes and muttered,

"He's right."

"He's not right." Buffy argued

"Of course he is. The only purpose I had here is to train the Potentials. And now you have him. I'll be gone by tomorrow night." He said, laying down on his back and staring at the ceiling, making it clear he was done with this conversation. Buffy started from one vampire to the other, before storming upstairs, Angel hot on her heels.

"That was your fault! You know that, don't you?" she said, once they were alone in the kitchen

"I was doing you a favour."

"Driving off my… my…" she stopped, not knowing how to describe Spike, "Driving off Spike is not a favour!"

"I know you feel guilty Buffy, but you can't look after him forever." Angel said in an annoyingly patronising tone

"It's not that!" she said, her voice rising, "We need him here."

"Why? What purpose does he serve?" he asked. Buffy didn't speak. She didn't know the answer, so Angel went on,

"Me and him working together, living together… it would never work. Eventually it would have come down to him or me. I just saved you the choice later on."

"Did it never occur to you that I might have chosen him?" Buffy asked, shooting Angel a glare, before heading upstairs to her bedroom. This time he didn't attempt to follow her.

**A/N: Any comments? Hit the big blue button.**


	5. Chip

**Thanks to all those brilliant readers who decided to make my day and become reviewers :D i.e.**

**BuffyBc; Vikki, Bloody Vampyre Mistress; ness345; Mony19;Tamara and Moluvsnumber17**

**In this chapter there's a little Spuffy and also a little Bangel if you look for it lol**

**Enjoy**

Replaced chapter 5

Buffy stood in the doorway, watching Giles and the Potentials leave on their camping trip to help hone their skills. She knew the house would feel empty now without them, especially as Spike promised he was leaving tonight. She was seriously beginning to contemplate throwing herself at him to get him to stay, but was unsure what his reaction would be after he'd seen her and Angel the night before. Would he think she was the world's biggest slut? Or would he just be glad of the excuse to stay, as she knew that he didn't want to leave. She was certain he was just leaving out of the guilt of his trigger- unsouled Spike definitely would never leave just because Angel told him to.

She heard someone approach from behind, and turned to see Xander hovering behind her uncertainly.

"Is it true Spike's leaving?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes... No… Maybe." Buffy began, "Why? Have you come to gloat?"

"No." he replied honestly, "I know how sad you are after your boyfriends leave and…"

"Spike's not my boyfriend." She interrupted.

"I know, but I also know you're close to him now. And this sounds totally wrong coming from me, but I don't think you should make Spike leave just because Angel tells you to."

"It wasn't my decision. Angel and him decided between themselves that he should leave."

"If you really don't want him to leave, make him stay."

"How?"

"How can I make this any more obvious?" Xander groaned, "Don't make me say it."

Say what?" Buffy asked

"Spike likes you a lot. I'm sure you can find some way of convincing him to stay…" Xander hinted

"You're suggesting I have sex with Spike just to make him stay!" Buffy asked, sounding shocked, despite the fact she'd been thinking exactly the same thing just moments before. Xander shrugged and retreated back inside the house, leaving Buffy staring at the empty road thinking over what Xander had just said.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, she descended the stairs down to the basement to see Spike. Angel wasn't there. He'd said something about meeting some old acquaintances and had disappeared into the sewer system earlier that morning. Spike was sitting awake, staring blankly at the wall, arms chained to the wall. Buffy lifted the key from its hook at the opposite side of the room and started to unchain him. He sat in silence until she was finished and rubbed his wrists when the shackles came off. 

"Spike I…"

"Don't." he interrupted, "Don't make this harder than it already is."

"But I…"

"Don't." he repeated, firmer this time. So Buffy did the only thing she could think to do and leant forward to kiss him. The instant their lips touched, Spike pulled away as if he'd been burnt and cracked his head against the wall behind him. He raised a hand to the back of his head, swearing under his breath.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked, the concern clear in her voice.

"I'm fine, just leave me alone, okay?" he said, turning away from her.

"Okay." She replied, feeling hurt and headed slowly back upstairs. She heard the front door slam, and saw Angel enter, his coat swishing out behind him.

"Hey." He said brightly, "Look I'm sorry about yesterday. I've been gone a long time, of course you wouldn't automatically pick me, but Spike's made his choice. Looks like you're stuck with me for the time being." She smiled weakly at his apology and said on impulse,

"Do you want to get some breakfast? The kitchen's quiet for once…"

"I don't generally eat." He reminded her

"Oh yeah, I forgot." She said, remembering how Spike always used to eat

"But if you want some company..." Angel went on.

"Thanks. Company would be great." She nodded, turning towards the table

"I'll just leave my coat downstairs" he said, descending to the basement. Buffy nodded, and put on some toast.

Seconds after Angel went down, she heard him yell upstairs

"Buffy!"

"What?" she shouted back

"Get down here now!" she rolled her eyes at his call. Was this how it was going to be from now on? He would call and she'd immediately answer? She didn't think so.

"In a minute" she called back

"It's Spike!" he replied and Buffy could hear a touch of worry in his voice, so she dropped the plate she was holding onto the table and ran into the basement. She saw Angel bending over Spike, who was writhing on the floor, clutching his head in agony.

"What did you do?" she asked, staring at Angel in horror

"Nothing! I found him like this!" Angel said. Buffy dropped to her knees beside Spike and spoke loudly, slowly and clearly to him,

"Spike! Can you hear me? What happened?" he opened his mouth and managed to say one word before falling unconscious

"Chip"

"Chip?" Angel asked, "Who's Chip?"

"Spike's chip. Riley's boys put a chip inside him to hurt him whenever he tried to attack a human. It must be malfunctioning" She explained quickly.

"Has it ever done that before?" he asked. She shook her head wondered aloud,

"What should we do?"

"Aspirin and a single malt scotch." Angel said automatically

"What?" Buffy asked staring at him

"I used to know this guy- he got visions of the future. Hurt like hell apparently and that's what he always asked for afterwards." Angel said, a somewhat sad look coming over his face, "I'll get an icepack too, he has a bump on his head. He must have hit his head on the floor when he fell.

"Yeah that must have been it." Buffy agreed, not wishing to tell Angel the real source of the bump.

**A/N: make my day and press the big blue button :D you know u want to ;)**


	6. Worry

**Hello all. Thanks to ness345; Vikki; Awfulpoet17;Moluvsnumber17;the-tangoing-mango-addict; Bloody Vampyre Mistress; willow-wiccan;FeralShadowwolf and poisonivy15**

**Also I forgot to say last chapter, although I said I would ignore all LA happenings, I just couldn't resist mentionning Doyle in the last chapter, 'cos they really didn't do that enough on the real thing.**

**Anyway on with the fic.**

Replaced chapter 6

"How is he?" Willow asked Angel as he sat on the table, watching her make two cups of coffee. Angel shrugged,

"He'll live. Well, he won't, but I think he'll be okay."

"That's not what Buffy's saying."

"She's known Spike for what? Three, four years? I've know him a lot longer. He's a lot tougher than you'd think."

"Maybe" Willow reluctantly agreed, " I'm going to have to track down the Initiative, and see if they can fix him." She turned to leave, heading upstairs to where Kennedy was waiting.

"Willow, can I ask you something?" Angel suddenly spoke up.

"Sure." Will said brightly, returning to stand next to the counter, dreading what Angel's next question would be.

"Are you… are you gay?" he asked, looking a little awkward. Willow felt a rush of relief that it wasn't something more complicated. Like Spike for instance.

"Yeah, for three years now" she smiled at him reassuringly to show she didn't mind the question.

"A lot of things happened three years ago, didn't they?" he asked

"What do you mean?"

"Spike said that was when he came back."

"Oh yeah…" Willow said, edging towards the door, not liking the direction their conversation was heading.

"How did he get that chip anyway?"

"He was an experiment. They had all sorts of demons locked away. I'm all for killing demons… but that was just cruel, you know?" Angel nodded, understanding.

"So he just decided to join you?" he asked, disbelief in his voice

"Not at first. He betrayed us a couple of times, then he changed."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Willow confirmed, before all but dashing up the stairs to Kennedy. She didn't feel right answering questions about Spike. That Buffy's job.

* * *

Buffy looked at Spike's unconscious body, lying in her bed, before she slipped into a chair next to it, so she could watch over him. The attacks from his chip were becoming more and more frequent and she couldn't help but think The First were in control of this too. Spike blinked a couple of times, before fully opening his eyes.

"It happen again?" he asked

"Yeah. They're getting closer together." She commented

"And more painful."

"I'm still leaving you know." He mumbled in a weak voice

"Okay" she said in a neutral tone.

"I mean it." He said, still not sounding too sure of himself

"Okay." She repeated.

"I really…" he was cut off as another wave of blinding pain shot through his skull. He jerked and writhed on the bed, and Buffy just sat by him, knowing there was nothing she could do.

"You okay?" she asked sympathetically when it seemed to subside

"Bloody fantastic." He replied, reaching for the glass of blood by the bed. His shaking hand knocked the glass to the floor, the dark red liquid staining Buffy's cream carpet.

"Sorry." He mumbled, attempting to push himself up to clean it up.

"Leave it." Buffy said, thinking about what her reaction would have been when Spike first moved into Giles'. She probably would have killed him. Not anymore.

"I'm so sorry." He mumbled

"It's just a carpet Spike."

"No, not that. Everything."

"You sound like you think you're dying" she said, laughing a little nervously

"Maybe I think I am."

"You won't die. I won't let it happen. Willow and Xander are on it. So's Angel."

"If the Poofter's involved, I know it's serious."

"You'll be fine." She whispered uneasily as his eyelids fluttered shut and he fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

"Have you found the number yet?" Buffy asked, climbing down the stairs

"I have a number." Willow said, "I just don't know if it's the right one."

"Have you tried it yet?"

"No I was waiting for you." Willow said. Buffy took the phone and the scrap of paper from Willow's outstretched hand and she dialled the number, pacing as she did so.

"She seems really worried." Angel commented, appearing from nowhere. Willow jumped. She'd forgotten how good he was at that.

"Things have changed since you were last here."

"That's clear, but in what ways?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I come back, and my ex-girlfriends desperately trying to get hold of her ex-boyfriend to save a vampire. You're gay, and you turned evil. Xander was engaged to an ex-demon before he left her at the alter. Giles abandoned you all to go to England and you have a hostage! How did this happen?"

"It's a long story…" Willow said awkwardly

"I bet."

"So… how was LA?"

"Vampires, demons, big bads. Just the usual. I want to hear about Sunnydale."

"It's not my story to tell."

"Parts of it are."

"Not the parts you want to hear." He nodded in agreement and defeat

"Okay, but I need to hear this story eventually."

"Just not from me." Willow said firmly.

Just then, Buffy came back in, looking frustrated

"It didn't work?"

"No. It was a flower shop. And Spike took another attack."

"I'll get on it." Willow said, turning back to her computer.

"Thanks Will. I don't know what I'd do without you." Buffy smiled gratefully

"Is it really that important though?" Angel asked

"What?" both girls asked and Buffy went on

"Spike could die!"

"And that would be sad." Angel agreed, "But he's leaving anyway. And with the trigger and the chip, how long could he last by himself?"

"It matters because he's one of us." Buffy snapped, "You should remember that."

**Like it? Hate it? Review :D**


	7. Back to the Base

Chapter 7

**Well I'm going to skip the whole Willow/Kennedy; Giles and whatever Xander and Anya were doing in this episode, and focus mainly on the other 3. This chap starts with Angel, Buffy and Spike searching for the old Initiative Base.**

**Thanks to** **BuffyBC, clarity queen, marykiss, Vikki, Mony19, Bloody Vampyre Mistress,La Romantique Perdue (thanks for all of them), FeralShadowwolf, Moluvsnumber17 and Maria for reviewing. **

"This is it?" Angel asked, as he stepped out of the driver's side of his car.

"Yeah." Buffy answered getting out from the passenger door, "What were you expecting?"

"I don't know. A huge prison or something…" Angel said, gazing around the deserted land around the closed frat house.

"It's underground you poofter." Spike rolled his eyes as he joined them.

"Are you sure you're up to coming Spike?" Buffy asked for what felt like the thousandth time.

"I'm fine." He replied shortly, "If I left you two alone down there, I'd never get my cure." And he began to walk, leaving them standing behind

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy snapped

"You know perfectly well Slayer. If I sat in the car, I'm sure you'd go down there, all guns blazing an' all, but how long would it be until Peaches stuck his tongue down your throat and all thoughts of helping poor Spike were wiped from your mind?" Spike snarled

"That wouldn't happen." Buffy said, angry that Spike could think she would do that when he needed her help.

"Whatever." He said, turning on his heel, all thoughts concentrated on finding the entrance. It had never been easy to find in the first place, but now that the years of un-use had caused a real layer of grass to grow over the entrance.

"Is he…" Angel began, and then stopped, shaking his head.

"What?" Buffy asked

"It's nothing. For a second there I thought he sounded jealous there." Angel laughed. Buffy forced herself to laugh too, but it came out sounding rather feeble.

"Let's catch up." She suggested, before setting off at a brisk walk after Spike.

* * *

"Found it." Spike said, as they approached, and heaved on a chain, revealing a grate. Spike spent no time pulling it off and thrust it to one side, dropping into the darkened corridor.

"So this is the Initiative." Angel said, gazing around the bare walls and the rubble that lay everywhere

"Well it was more impressive… until we trashed it." Buffy pointed out.

"It's still impressive." Angel argued, "I still can't believe the government managed to build an underground base here without anyone noticing."

"I still can't believe they recruited a bunch of kids and expected them to make good soldiers." Spike spoke up

"Some of them were good." Buffy said awkwardly

"Only because they were drugging them." Spike reminded her.

"They were drugging them?" Angel asked, once again feeling left out of Spike and Buffy's nostalgia.

"Yeah, Captain Cardboard took a long time getting over his little addiction." Spike said, looking like he was taking immense pleasure in that.

"Captain Cardboard?" Angel burst out laughing,

"His name's Riley." Buffy said, her patience wearing thin

"But Captain Cardboard really suits him." Angel said, grinning in a way that reminded Buffy of Angelus.

"See even the Poofter agrees." Spike said, grinning too, "I liked your next boyfriend a lot better." Angel's grin faded instantly,

"What next boyfriend."

"I didn't have one." Buffy said, going slightly red

"Course you did. He was blonde, he loved you and you used him." Spike said, referring to himself

"Who was it?" Angel asked, looking between them. Spike opened his mouth, glancing at Buffy as he did so. Then suddenly, he was hit with another wave of pain, and he collapsed onto the ground clutching his head once again. When it eventually subsided, Buffy yanked him up roughly and ordered,

"Let's go." Neither vampire argued with her, knowing that Spike's unlife was in risk.

* * *

All three of them shuddered as the stench of bodies hit them. The smell was getting worse and the bodies more numerous as they headed towards Maggie Walsh's office, where the documents would surely have been kept.

Suddenly two demons jumped out in the dark, one tackling Angel to the ground, stake in hand, while another started fighting Buffy. Spike felt the throbbing pain begin again, and muttered

"No… not now." Under his breath and used his last reserves of energy to kick the stake out of the demons hand, before collapsing.

Angel threw the demon off him and moved to help Buffy. As soon as he turned his back on the first demon, it picked Spike up and carried him off. Buffy tried to follow, but the other demon prevented her, knocking her to the floor, and Angel into the wall. Before either could recover, the other demon was back, hitting angel's head repeatedly off the wall. With a snarl, he vamped, and snapped the demons neck, the limp body falling to the floor. Buffy soon did the same to the other and suddenly all the lights flickered on and Buffy spots Spike, lying flat on his back on a table.

"Ah Buffy…" Angel said, nodding up to the balcony above them where armed soldiers stood. One spoke,

"Agent Finn reported that you tried to contact him earlier today. He indicated you might be needing our assistance. We're to provide you with anything you need to help ass-face here" he nodded at Spike's limp body. Buffy glared at him.

"Those were his exact words, Ma'am." The soldier explained. Buffy watched in silence as two soldiers came down a flight of stairs and lifted Spike, carrying him into a separate room.

"Ass-face?" Angel smirked.

"Spike and Riley didn't see eye to eye." Buffy said

"So I see. He never got over boy soldier putting a chip in his head then?" Angel asked

"Yeah, and there was the whole jealousy thing." Buffy said, forgetting who she was speaking to.

"Jealousy?" Angel raised an eyebrow

"Yeah… 'cos Riley could fight and he couldn't…" Buffy lamely covered for herself, but Angel seemed to buy it.

* * *

A few hours later, a restless Angel watched over the sleeping Slayer. A soldier came to wake her, but Angel stopped him,

"What do you want?"

"She was right, the chip was self destructing. She has a choice to make." The soldier attempted to move forward again, But Angel pushed him back.

"What choice?"

"The chip can either be removed completely or replaced."

"Replace it." Angel said instantly

"It's her choice." The soldier said, looking intimidated by Angel, but standing his ground nonetheless, "Agent Finn's orders" he finished weakly.

"Fine." Angel snarled, and let the soldier past, and let him wake Buffy. Soon he was explaining to her in whispered tones, and Angel saw her nod once, before the soldier scuttled off, avoiding eye contact with Angel.

"I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen to me." Angel said, glaring after him.

"Well, the sooner they get that thing out of him the better."

"And put another in… right?"

"Well… no." Buffy admitted, staring very hard at the ground

"You told them to get rid of it?" he asked, amazement ringing in his voice

"Well if you think about it, it was useless anyway. It didn't work when the First was in control and it's not as if he goes around killing people anymore." Angel glared at the floor, not quite knowing why, but sure that removing the chip was a terrible idea. "I know you don't like it," Buffy continued, "But it's my choice. It doesn't matter if you don't trust him. I do, and that's all that matters."

* * *

Spike smiled from his position on the stretcher nearby. The soldiers were rushing around, getting everything ready for his surgery, but none of that mattered anymore. Buffy trusted him. Somehow in the past few days he'd forgotten that, despite that being the only thing that got him through the First's torture. Maybe… maybe it was worth sticking around after all.

**What do you think? Review and let me find out. Hope this was a better pace to go at.**

**Oh and some of the lines are from the actual episode "Killer in Me. " ie, the soldier's ass face thing**


	8. The Secret's Out

**Replaced chapter 8**

**Starting in the middle of the First Date episode**

**Thnaks to Mony19, Bloody Vampyre Mistress, twotow, the-tangoing-mango-addict, BuffyBc, yukari, ness345, Vikki, FeralShadowwolf and gizachick for reviewing.**

**I'm warning you now, I hate this chapter, but I tried, and I couldn't write it any better than this. I'm hoping to have some Spuffy stuff in the next chapter, or the one after that. **

"Training tonight?" Angel asked Spike, entering the Summers' house from the kitchen door.

"Nope. Buffy's got a big date." Spike replied, trying to sound nonchalant, but not succeeding. Luckily Angel was far too wrapped up in what he had to say, than to be worrying about how he sounded.

"With who?"

"Her boss." Spike complained

"Isn't he like ten years older than her?"

"You're one to talk." Spike snorted, "You're what? Two hundred years older than her?"

"I don't look it though."

"I wouldn't worry Peaches. According to the Wicca, it's strictly business. She thinks he's evil."

"So she's dating him?"

"Looks like it." Xander answered, entering carrying a few boxes of doughnuts, "She has a thing for evil guys. Hey Spike, can you go get Buffy, tell her I have some pre-dinner nutrition for her." Spike nodded and headed out to find her.

"What do you mean about the bad guys?" Angel asked, taking a doughnut out of the box. Not that he was hungry. He just needed something to hold in his hands to prevent him punching the wall.

"Well there was you." Xander took a large bite of his one, jam squirting out the sides, "And now there's that evil principal guy. Oh and Dead Boy Jnr."

"Who?" Angel asked, choking on his doughnut

"Spike."

"Spike!" Angel said, sounding dazed

"You didn't know about Spike?" Xander asked, looking worried

"No! How did that happen?"

"It's really none of my business…" Xander said, glancing worriedly at the door

"Tell me." Angel snarled

"What's going on?" Buffy asked, arriving in the kitchen, wearing a skimpy top, Spike hot on her heels. Angel looked between them, deciding what he should say. Then he decided he would leave it for now.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

"Really? Because it looked like you were just threatening Xander…" Buffy said

"It's nothing." Xander agreed, knowing that Buffy would kill him when she found out he'd told Angel.

"Okay…" Buffy glanced from one to the other, and lifted a doughnut from the box, "So are you going to take training without me, or do you want the night off?"

"Night off." Both answered instantly, dreading spending any time together.

"They could do some male bonding," Xander suggested, "I'll leave the cards out, and they could play strip poker." Buffy snorted with laughter,

"Why don't you join us Slayer, ditch the principal, we're much more fun." Spike teased

"Tempting Spike, but you know my poker skills."

"Exactly." They both smirked and looked into each others eyes. Angel noted this whole conversation, wondering how he'd managed to miss the signs before. They heard a horn honk outside, and Buffy looked away,

"I'd better go, that'll be him…"

"Have fun." Xander followed her to the door to see her off.

* * *

"You're jealous." Angel muttered to Spike when Buffy and Xander were out of earshot. 

"Of who?" Spike pretended to have no idea what he's talking about

"The boss. You want Buffy."

"I don't. We were just messing around."

"Remind me," Angel said, "When exactly did you get your soul."

"A few months ago." Spike frowned, unsure where Angel was heading with the new change of topic, "Why?"

"Doesn't matter." He said mysteriously, and left the kitchen

* * *

"Buffy told me about her and Spike." Angel said to Willow, as he stood next to her in the living room. 

"Oh... So are you okay?" she asked, looking suprised that Buffy had brought it up.

"I think so…" he said, staring at the ground, "So when abouts did they start seeing each other?"

"I don't know for sure." Willow admitted, "But it was definitely after she died."

"Before he had his soul!"

"Yeah… what exactly did Buffy tell you?"

"Just that her and Spike were seeing each other for a while."

"Why did she tell you?" Willow sounded suspicious

"I don't know… guilt maybe."

"Why would she be guilty? You haven't been together for years."

"I don't know! I just can't believe she even considered going out with him."

"Well she told me she's not in love with him anymore…" Willow said trying to comfort him.

"They were in love?"

"It looks like it. I didn't know anything about it Angel, you're asking the wrong person."

"Just tell me, when did they break up?"

"Just before I went evil." Willow said, looking a little embarrassed.

"Okay." Angel nodded, turning to leave, when Willow's phone beeped.

"It's Xander." She said, scanning the message "His date's a demon. We'll have to save him,"

"I'll get Buffy." Angel said

"Okay, she's in Massimos." Willow named the local Italian restaurant, "Do you know it?"

"No." Angel admitted

"Sorry, but Spike better go then." Willow said sheepishly

"If he's going, I'm coming too." He said obstinately

"Fine, but you'd better get him and go before Xander gets hurt." Willow said, wondering how they would survive the car journey together.

**So if you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I'd be grateful if you reviewed too.**


	9. First Date

**Thank you to FeralShadowwolf, ness345, wwefan01, Vikki, the-tangoing-mango-addict, Bloody Vampyre Mistress, mony19, ncsirspeedlimit, LucyE, poisonivy28 and BuffyBc for reviewing.**

**Some quick points before we start: Extra thanks to everyone who encouraged me and reassured me the last chapter wasn't that bad afterall. There's going to be no Angel characters, except Angel in this fic, there will be some fighting later and sorry for leaving so long between chapters 7 and 8 lol. Now on with the fic.**

**Chapter 9**

"Buffy." Angel said, hovering above her and the principal's table at the Italian restaurant.

"Can't I have one night off?" she groaned when she saw him

"Sorry, but it's Xander."

"His date?" Buffy groaned, "Why can't he pick nice, normal girls?"

"I'm sorry." The man she was with spoke, "Who exactly are you?"

"He's my friend." Buffy said hurriedly, just in case Angel decided to name himself her boyfriend after their recent kiss

"So are we going to go find him?" Angel said impatiently, "Spike's waiting outside"

"You brought Spike!"

"Actually, he brought me on the back on his motorbike" He said sheepishly, "I can't remember where I parked my car." Buffy coughed to disguise her laugh at the thought of Angel and Spike on a motorbike together.

"So how are we going to find him?"

"I could take you on the bike." Angel suggested

"Can you drive it?" she asked sounding surprised

"Course. Well I've never actually tried…. But it should be easy enough."

"I'll get Spike to take me." Buffy rolled her eyes

"No. I don't want you going with him." Angel said firmly

"Why not?" she asked.

"I just don't."

"Last time I checked Angel, you weren't in charge of me."

"I don't really know what's going on here." The principal said, "But I have a car if you need it." Angel traded a glance with Buffy. He didn't want to involve a civilian, but he _really_ didn't want Buffy and Spike going off alone together now that he knew of their history.

"Okay, let's go." Buffy said, leading the way outside.

* * *

They arrived just in time to prevent Xander being seriously hurt. Buffy went straight to cut him down, relying on her vampires and Wood to protect her while she did so. It was clear that Wood was strong, but obviously compared to Angel, Spike and Buffy he was nothing. He was soon knocked aside by the demon, and it blindsided Buffy. Both vampires were by her side in an instant, and before long the fighting resumed. In the fray, Spike got thrown into a wall, his head cracking off it loudly. As Angel turned to see what happened, he too was knocked over and fell onto the injured Xander. The demon cornered Buffy and pressed her against the wall, trying to snap her neck. With a snarl, Spike was up again, ignoring any pain he felt and barrelled into the demon sending them both sprawling on the floor. Angel, Buffy, Xander and Wood could do nothing but watch Spike and the demon struggle on the floor, none attempting to get the demon for fear of accidentally hitting Spike. Eventually, Spike changed to his game face with a snarl and managed to snap the demons neck, and rolled onto his back, breathing heavily. 

"You okay?" Buffy asked

"Yeah, just give me a minute love." He said, changing back to his normal face, still breathing heavily. Buffy nodded and glanced at Angel and Wood,

"You both still okay?" they nodded, both watching her and Spike together closely. Angel because he was jealous, and Wood because of the revelation that Spike was a vampire, completely unaware that he was standing next to another.

Buffy pulled Spike to his feet and asked him something that neither Angel nor Wood could make out, before he nodded, leaning against the wall as she went to get Xander. Angel rolled his eyes as he saw Spike's eyes flick downwards to Buffy's ass as she walked away from him, and wondered again how he could have missed the signs before. If what Willow said was true, and Buffy was over Spike, he really doubted the opposite was also true.

* * *

As they stood outside, Buffy glanced at the car and the bike. They couldn't leave the bike there, but Spike was certainly in no fit state to drive it. 

"Remember before when you said you thought you could ride Spike's bike, Angel?"

"Yeah…" Angel said, eyeing it with suspicion.

"Can you please take it home for him? I really don't want him riding it in that state."

"Peaches is not taking my bike," Spike argued, "He'll crash it or something."

"No I won't" Angel said quickly, despite feeling certain he would.

"No arguing." Buffy ordered, taking Spike's arm and leading him to the car. Spike looked woefully at his bike, sure it would be the last time he'd see it in one piece, before tossing Angel the keys.

* * *

Half an hour later, Buffy sat on the sofa in the living room, wondering where Angel had got to. She was beginning to regret him taking Spike's bike, but it had seemed like such a good idea at the time. She heard the clump of Spike's boots coming down the stairs and shifted to give him room to sit beside her when he entered the room. 

"Where's all the potentials?" he asked

"Downstairs. Andrew's telling them a ghost story or something."

"Peaches still not back?" he said sounding worried about his precious bike

"Not yet."

"So…I was thinking. Now that you have Angel _and_ the principal, there's really no need for me to be here at all." Spike began

"Don't start this again Spike." Buffy groaned

"No, hear me out. I'm effectively useless. So there must be another reason you want me around… So what is it?"

"Maybe I'm just not ready for you not to be here yet."

"Why?" he pressed

"Because I lied when I told Willow I was completely over you." She said honestly, and although neither was sure exactly how it started, they were kissing again, for the first time in months. It was a lot different from any other kiss they had previously shared. It was slow and gentle, unlike the usual fast and furious ones. Spike pulled away, and muttered

"Sorry."

"Don't be." Buffy replied, "That was…" she was interrupted by the front door slamming and she sprang away from Spike.

"I'm back." Angel said, not noticing anything was wrong, "That bike of yours is a death trap." He said to Spike, throwing him the keys, and Spike smirked when he noticed Angel had a limp. Until he realised that probably mean he fell off it.

"Did you…" he began threateningly

"The bike's fine Spike." Angel rolled his eyes, "I survived too. Thanks for asking."

"It better be." Spike complained

"I'm going to take a lie down." Angel said, heading towards the basement without another word.

"Should we tell him that there's a gang of terrified teenagers down there?" Spike smirked, before seeing a weird look on Buffy's face.

"What's wrong?"

"He nearly saw us."

"So?"

"Can you imagine how he'd react?"

"I don't know, and I don't really care."

"Well you should."

"Why? I thought we were past the stage of me being your dirty little secret, but apparently I was wrong." He stood to follow Angel downstairs, preferring to face the potentials than stay with Buffy any longer while he was angry.

**Make my day by reviewing.**


	10. Coward

**Big thanks to Buffy BC, Vikki, Mony 19, the-tangoing-mango-addict, sasha, wwefan01, Tamara, ncsirspeedlimit, FeralShadowwolf and Autumn Soleil for reviewing :D you're all my inspitation lol**

**Replaced chapter 10**

Angel lay on his back, throwing a tennis ball against the roof and catching it as it fell again. When Spike had headed out, followed by Anya, Angel had hoped it was the opportunity for him and Buffy to spend some quality time together, maybe even get back together… but no. She's said something about work commitments and disappeared, leaving him alone in this dingy basement.

He heard approaching footsteps but heard no voices. He hoped it wasn't Spike back already, and was relieved to hear it wasn't the clumping of his doc martins he heard. His heart lightened as he heard Buffy's voice, but fell again as he heard another man answer. He swung around and sat on the bunk instead of lying on it, waiting patiently to see what Buffy and this mystery man wanted.

The man was Principal Wood, and he looked around the basement probing every corner with his eyes

"Looking for something?" Angel asked wondering who the hell this guy thought he was invading the basement he'd taken to living in

"The vampire. Where is he?" he snapped to Buffy, totally blanking Angel.

"Spike's out." Angel answered for her

"Typical." Wood muttered, heading for the stairs again

"Why don't you just talk to Angel instead?" Buffy reasoned

"Because I want to talk to the vampire," he said, as if it were obvious

"Angel's a vampire too." She replied and Wood gawped at her.

"How many more have you got hidden down here?"

"Just Spike and Angel," Buffy answered, disliking the man's tone.

"He has a soul too?" Wood asked gruffly, circling Angel, who was hating the way he was referring to him rather than just asking him himself, almost as if he felt he was beneath him.

"Yeah, and I've had it a damn sight longer than Spike," Angel said triumphantly

"How'd you get it?"

"Gypsy curse." Angel said shortly, deciding the less time he spent with this man, the better.

"And the other vampire? He was cursed too?" Wood asked

"_Spike" _Buffy emphasised the use of his name, "Chose to get his soul. Fought until it nearly killed him." Wood looked up sharply,

"Why would it do that?"

"_He_ did it…. He did it for me." Buffy looked embarrassed

"Why?"

"Because they were in love," Angel said bitterly, before turning to Buffy, "And I would have appreciated a little warning beforehand. Finding out like I did… it wasn't pleasant."

"You saw us last night?" Buffy jumped to the wrong conclusion

"Last night!" Angel exclaimed, "What happened last night?"

"Nothing" Buffy quickly backtracked, before grabbing Wood's arm, "Let's go."

"We're not done talking!" Angel called after her, glad to have the thing that had been weighing on his heart out in the open, needing to confront her on this latest revelation.

"We'll talk later. I promise." She said weakly, half dragging a protesting Wood to the door. Angel let out a frustrated sigh, fell back on the bunk again and resumed throwing the tennis ball with a renewed fury.

* * *

He didn't know how long he'd been there, throwing that damn tennis ball, the noise it was making driving him slowly, but surely insane, yet he kept doing it, because he had nothing else to stop him thinking about Buffy and Spike. What did she mean 'last night'? Had he kissed her? Had they slept together again? He was beginning to think that the truth couldn't be as bad as his imagination. 

He didn't even hear Spike and Anya return, and they were half way down the stairs before he even glanced their way. They were arguing incessantly over some demon that Spike had let escape or something. Angel threw the ball harder, and harder, now relishing the dull thudding noise it was making, attempting to drown out Spike and Anya.

He'd promised himself that he wouldn't overreact when he saw Spike. Buffy would never forgive him if he went completely off the handle, and ended up staking Spike in the blinding rage he was feeling.

"Stop that," Spike said irritably, dropping onto his bunk in the opposite corner, "She's giving me enough of a headache as it is," he nodded in Anya's direction.

"We wouldn't be having this argument if you hadn't acted like such a coward!" Anya complained, "If it was your precious Buffy you would have ripped its head off!" Angel's ears pricked up at the mention of Buffy,

"Maybe that's because she isn't still going on about a bloody one night stand a year ago!" Spike snapped

"Or it's because you're in love with her!" Anya shouted, sounding jealous

"And you're in love with Harris! So don't come around to me trying to get a shag just because you're feeling lonely tonight. I had enough of that last year," Spike said bitterly

"Hey!" Angel sat up, "Don't talk to her like that."

"Why not? It's true," Spike commented. Angel didn't reply, just stood up, grabbed him by the collar and shoved him hard against the wall. Spike's head cracked off it, just like it had that night they rescued Xander.

"Get off me" Spike tried to push him off.

"Thank you Angel," Anya smiled sweetly

"Say sorry" Angel snarled,

"Bite me" Spike snapped back. He knew what he'd said to Anya was wrong, and he did feel guilty for bringing up Xander, but there was no way he was going to apologise, just because Angel said to.

"Say sorry" Angel repeated, hitting him off the wall again, harder this time

"No" Spike said through gritted teeth, still struggling

"Angel…" Anya said, looking on worriedly

"Say sorry!" Angel roared again, Spike's head hitting the wall for the third and final time. As Spike wearily pulled his head away from it, a smear of blood remained.

"Angel stop it!" Anya cried out, "It doesn't matter!" However, Angel was paying her no attention, and kneed Spike hard in the stomach.

"I don't know what she sees in you!" he hissed at Spike, and both knew he was no longer referring to Anya.

"She likes a little excitement in her men" he replied, earning him a punch, but this time, Spike was ready, ducking the blow, and tackling Angel to the ground. Anya gave the brawling vampires one last glance, before sprinting upstairs to find Buffy.

* * *

By the time she returned, Buffy in tow, Spike was the dominating force, but both vampires were bleeding from various points, and it looked like Angel was about to take control again. Buffy stared at them both helplessly, not having a clue how to deal with something like this. 

"Stop it!" she shouted, but both vampires seemed deaf to her cries, so she said the only thing she thought had a chance of stopping them, "I love you!" She noted with satisfaction both vampires froze instantly, turning to her to see which one she was talking about, not that she had any particular one in mind when she said it of course… She shook off the feeling of satisfaction quickly and took control,

"Spike, get off him! Angel stand up!" they both looked at her like guilty schoolboys, "Don't you think I have enough on my mind without you two fighting each other? Why can't you just accept I need you both?"

"It wasn't about that" Angel said

"I don't care what it's about. If this happens again, you're both going somewhere else, because we don't have time for this! Do I make myself clear?" both vampires stared at their shoes and nodded silently. Without another word, she stormed up the stairs, leaving Anya alone with the pair, she wondered if she should say something, then began awkwardly,

"Thank you for trying to stand up for me Angel, but Spike was right, I was just looking for a one night stand." She began to head towards the door, when Spike caught her hand,

"Sorry." He said with a lopsided grin, "For bringing up Harris I mean."

"It's okay" Anya smiled in reply, and followed Buffy upstairs, leaving the two vampires feeling furious with one another.

**Like it? Hate it? Review :D**


	11. Suicide

**Firstly, thanks to all my reviewers, namely 'grr', 'just another reviewer', Mony19, bloody vampyre mistress, kayleena mason, HimikoSagara, willow-wiccan, FeralShadowwolf, la romantique perdue (twice lol), BuffyBc and AutumnSoleil.**

**secondly, sorry for ages between updates, im finding it hard to find time, plus the sites been malfunctioning**

**thridly, someone thought that Anya would never want Spike. In the episode that these few chapters is based on (my minds gone blank, can't remember the name of it lol. It's the one following First Date anyway) Anya tells Spike that she wants to have sex with him at least twice, so hope i cleared that up**

**Fourthy, yeah they're out of character, especially in this chapter, but right now, Spike and Angel just want out of each other's way. And they're annoyed at Buffy for kissing both of them. So sorry about that.**

**Enjoy :D**

**Chapter 11**

Angel and Spike sat in a stony silence, until finally Spike spoke,

"This isn't going to work"

"I know" Angel replied sullenly "So for the sake of Buffy's sanity, not to mention our own, what're we going to do"

"One of us could leave. Not leave town, just the house"

"Okay. How do we decide who"

"You were here first" Angel sighed, deciding it was the noble thing to do, "I'll go back to the mansion"

"I'd only been here for a few days before you got here. Anyway you two are 'soul mates' and whatnot" Spike said, surprising himself with his honesty. Right now he didn't care where he went, as long as he was away from the constant bickering. It would even be a relief to be free of the potentials.

"We haven't seen each other for years. I don't have any bigger right to her than you have"

"So how to we decide?" Spike repeated. They fell into an uncomfortable silence, before Angel finally asked what was on his mind,  
"What happened last night?"

"What?" Spike feigned innocence

"I asked Buffy about you, and she said something happened between you last night. What was it?"

"I just kissed her. She jumped away as soon as you walked in"

"On the couch?" Angel asked a look of realisation on his face. Spike nodded.

"I knew she was acting weird" Angel went on.

The door swung open, and Buffy strode in,

"Did I just hear you two having a civilised conversation?" she asked in mock amazement

"One of us needs to go" Angel said bluntly, "And we can't decide who"

"No! You can't!" she said, looking from one to the other, her gaze resting on Spike, for she was sure he would once again be the one to offer, and sure enough he was the first to speak again,

"I…" but he was interrupted by a piercing scream from upstairs. The two vampires quickly exchanged a glance before both pairs of eyes fell on Buffy, waiting for confirmation on what they each thought they'd just heard.

"That's Dawn" Buffy said, sounding weak, and then all three of them turned and charged for the stairs, all thoughts of moving out now vanished from their minds.

* * *

Buffy reached the bedroom the continuing scream was coming from, followed by Spike, with Angel slipping in after him. Xander was the next to arrive, pursued by an army of potentials, Willow, Andrew, Anya and Giles. Each stood still, as they tried to process the sight before them. One of the potentials was swinging, rope around neck from the light in the room. Buffy moved forward first, heading towards Dawn, while Spike went to the body and lifted it down, laying it on the floor. The silence rung through the virtually silent room, as Dawn's screaming had been reduced to crying on Buffy's shoulder. 

"She's cold. Been there for at least an hour, I'd wager." Spike said, after a quick assessment. Suddenly, Buffy rounded on the potentials

"An hour? How could you not notice she wasn't there"

"I thought she was with Molly" one said, staring at the ground, tears brimming in her eyes. Others murmured some sort of agreement. Buffy rolled her eyes, and began to give orders,

"Spike, take the body outside, we don't need to look at it. Angel, I'd appreciate it if you went to the cemetery, see if there's any vacant graves. We don't have time to dig her her own." Angel nodded and left instantly, while Spike waited behind, until the room had completely vacated, intending on following Angels' scent to find the right site. Soon, only he, Buffy and Dawn, who was still standing, frozen to the spot, staring into space remained.

"I'd better get going" Spike said, carefully lifting the body, seeing that Dawn wasn't quite ready to leave yet. Buffy nodded, but reached out and touched his arm as he walked past,

"Things like this are exactly why we need you. Both of you" Spike didn't reply, just left, looking over his shoulder at Dawn as he went.

* * *

After the small funeral service, preformed by Giles, the vampires with some assistance from Xander filled in the grave. They then began to follow the slow procession of Potentials who were gloomily heading back to the house. An angry looking Buffy fell behind to walk with them, 

"I don't believe that girl could be so stupid" she said suddenly. Neither vampire spoke, and Angel remembered his own near suicide attempt on the streets of Sunnydale that the First had also nearly caused.

"Before today, I didn't even know her name" Xander said numbly

"Neither did I. She was just another Potential to me" Spike said, sounding guilty.

"We can't blame ourselves." Buffy said determinately, "The other girls need us to be strong"

"Sounds more like heartless than strong to me" Spike argued, "If we're not to blame, who is? We're all more worried with ourselves than the girls. It's our fault. No one else's. Each of them looked at him, silently agreeing, before Buffy strode ahead again, leaving the two vampires and the man trudging slowly behind.

* * *

They let themselves into the house, twenty minutes later and were greeted by the sound of Buffy giving a speech on how stupid the girl must have been to kill herself, and how none of them should attempt the same thing. All felt the need to intervene, to tell Buffy to leave the Potentials alone. They certainly weren't to blame for the actions of their peer, but Xander lacked the energy to argue with the worked up vampire slayer today, and neither vampire wanted to give Buffy a reason to throw them out of the house, because although they had both volunteered to leave, they didn't want to, because it would mean giving up and accepting defeat in the war for Buffy's heart. Fortunately for them, one of the Potentials, Kennedy, decided to defend herself 

"Who the hell do you think you are, telling us that we should have looked after poor Chloe better? You weren't around; you couldn't see that she wasn't coping. You didn't even know her name"

"I was out, fighting evil. Right now, I'm the only one that can. I don't have time to patrol, train you, hold down a job and spend time with all of you every night"

"But you're not the only one, are you?" Kennedy replied smugly, "Willow's more powerful than you. Spike and Angel are a match for you. What gives you the right to lead us"

"Because I'm the only one that uses their power." Buffy said, avoiding everyone else's eyes.

"That's not fair" Xander said, stepping in to defend his best friend, "They do what you tell them.

"Not well" Buffy replied coldly, "Willow's afraid of her own power, Spike's acting like a wounded puppy and Angel was never as strong as me. Except when he was Angelus"

"So what? You want me to turn on you?" Angel asked, "Because I know Angelus, and once he's out, he's not liable to take your side"

"I just want you to fight like him" Buffy amended, "Nothing else"

"I try my best" Angel said, knowing that he was whining

"Well your best isn't good enough" she snapped,

"Just 'cos your stressed, doesn't mean you can take it out on us Slayer" Spike spoke from the shadows, then his voice softened, "I know you're scared"

"I'm not" she interrupted defiantly

"Course you're scared. There's a big bad around, and we don't know how to kill it before it kills us. There's no running, there's no hiding. It's normal to be scared. It's human nature"

"How would you know anything about being human?" she said coldly

"I still know what it's like to be afraid" he finished. A silence fell over the room

"So, what now?" Willow asked nervously

"We could take a look in that bag the principle gave you" Dawn suggested in a tired voice

"What bag"

"He called it a Slayer's emergency kit. It belonged to his mum. She was slayer before me." Buffy said, in a quieter voice than before, "This seems as good a time as any to use it. Dawn go fetch it, it's under my bed. Potentials… Get some sleep. This doesn't concern you. Everyone else can do what they like." For a second, no one moved, until, all at once, The Potentials and Dawn began to move towards the door. Everyone else remained in the room, either out of curiosity or loyalty to Buffy.

**Review :D**


	12. Demons and Shadowmen

**Thanks to BuffyBC, Vikki, FeralShadowwolf, Mita427, Mony19 and wwefan01 for their reviews**

**Chapter 12**

Spike sat in a corner of the room, watching Willow and Buffy set up a sort of shadow puppet set that the 'emergency kit' had contained. Angel paced the room slowly, warily watching the newly arrived principal with distrustful eyes. Everyone else sat still, gazing at the shadow puppets as they were taken out one by one. Personally, Spike couldn't see what the attraction was. It didn't seem to be doing anything. Willow lit a candle in the centre and a pedestal began to rotate slowly. Everyone seemed transfixed with it now, but to Spike, it was just a boring party trick. Dawn began to translate something out of an ancient book and Xander carefully slotted in one of the puppets. Spike rose to leave, bored with the thing already when suddenly a drum beat appeared from no where. He stopped and turned again in time to see Xander insert another and a silhouette of a demon appeared on the wall, howling and snapping.

"Okay" Spike muttered to no one in particular, "Now I'm impressed." He, along with everyone else continued to watch Xander add more and more puppets, including one of a chained girl, struggling.

"You cannot be shown. You cannot just watch but you must see. See for yourself but only if you're willing to make the exchange" Dawn said, quickly, finishing her reading and the pedestal sped up, whirling round faster and faster, the drum beat becoming so loud it was almost deafening. Suddenly there was a flash and a glowing blue and white portal appeared instead of the pedestal. Angel ceased his pacing and moved closer to it, a look of wonder on his face.

"I'm going in there" Buffy said in a voice that told no one to argue. Angel and Spike interrupted immediately

"Not alone you don't" Spike said, while Angel said logically,

"The book says something about an exchange. We don't know what's on the other side either. Wouldn't it be better to wait and research?"

"We don't have time, the portals closing" Buffy protested

"We can summon it again. What if you get trapped on the other side?" Willow interjected

"We can't summon it again. The pedestals gone. It's now or never."

"She's right" Spike said decisively, "But I'm coming with you" Buffy looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. Buffy quickly grabbed Spike's hand, aware how rapidly the portal was closing and the pair dived through together, seconds before the portal closed. The rest stood in silence, staring at the now empty middle of the room.

"Didn't the book say something about an exchange?" Anya asked, and everyone nodded wondering what it was. Suddenly there was another flash of light and two demons were standing, snarling in the middle of the small circle they'd formed around the room.

"What's going on?" the potential named Kennedy asked, stepping into the room and unknowingly diverting everyone's attention for a moment. In those few seconds Xander's eyes hadn't been on the demons, one charged him, sending him flying into a table. Angel was soon on the other demon, and they were both struggling on the floor for a few moments. Dawn swung one of Buffy's swords at that one's exposed back, but it moved just in time and Dawn narrowly avoided impaling Angel. He leapt to his feet, ready to face the demon again, but it grabbed him, and threw him through Xander's newly repaired windows before it jumped through them itself and ran down the street, closely followed by the other. The Scoobies could hear terrified people screaming, but none of them dared to follow after seeing how one had just tossed aside Angel,

"What do we do now?" Kennedy asked, sounding shaken

"I don't know" Xander answered when it was clear no one else was going to

"I wish Buffy was here," Andrew whined

"We should catch the demons and see if we can exchange them back for Buffy and Spike" Willow took control of the group

"How? We've got no slayer. One of our vampires is with her and the others unconscious. If that thing can beat Angel what chance do any of us stand against two of them?" Xander asked. The silence that greeted his question was more terrifying than any demon.

* * *

Buffy and Spike tumbled out of the portal together. Upon seeing the sunlight, Spike tried to shield himself with his coat and dived into a small patch of shade

"You didn't even start to burn" Buffy said, confused

"Maybe it's just my lucky day" he said, remaining firmly in the shaded patch

"Or maybe the sun here's different from back home" she suggested. Spike tentatively stuck his hand into the sun and stared at it in amazement as it didn't catch fire.

"I could get used to life here" he said, with a smirk

"Come on" she said, still all business, "Let's start walking."

* * *

Angel suddenly awoke, sitting up instantly, shards of glass falling from his shirt. He stood up, noticing that they'd moved him from outside to the couch in the living room, and took a few moments to steady himself, wondering how the hell that demon had managed to get the better of him, before walking into the kitchen, where all the discussion seemed to be taking place.

"I can take the demons" he said, his voice ringing full of self confidence he didn't actually have

"I'll come with you" the principal surprisingly stood up. Angel regarded him thoughtfully, before nodding

"Just don't get yourself killed."

* * *

Eventually Spike and Buffy reached a cave, where three men, shrouded in tribal clothing and holding staffs.

"Shadowmen" Buffy mumbled, unsure how she knew exactly what they were. All three heads jerked up to stare at them when they entered the cave. Buffy felt slightly uncomfortable under their stares

"I'm Buffy Summers. I'm the Slayer" she introduced herself. The men however looked past her, at Spike,

"You." One said

"You do not belong" another went on

"He's impure" the third spoke

"Yet he stands beside the Slayer,"

"A fellow guardian of the Hellmouth,"

"Her champion" instantly, all three simultaneously seemed to lose interest in Spike and turned their piercing gazes on Buffy again

"We know who you are"

"We know why you're here"

"You're the last guardian of the Sunnydale Hellmouth

"Latest" Buffy corrected, "Latest guardian of the Hellmouth"

"Latest and Last" the first shadowman proclaimed. Buffy regarded them curiously, then changed the subject,

"Anyway, I came here to find out what I should do with my Potentials."

"We have no knowledge to give you" one spoke, before all together said

"Only power,"

"Power's always good love" Spike whispered from his spot beside her

"We don't need anymore power. We need to know what to do next" She argued

"The impure one must leave" one of the shadowmen ordered

"Hey! You said I was her champion," Spike argued, "I'm staying," the men began to circle him, emotionless expressions on their faces. The one behind him suddenly reached out and smacked him round the back of his head with their staff

"That is exactly why you must go" another stated to his lifeless body, before the other two managed to knock out a struggling Buffy as well, with inhuman strength.

* * *

**Well what do you think? Tell me in your reviews.**


	13. Demon Battle

**Sorry for the long gap between updates, I just haven't been writing anything lately. It's more out of laziness than anything else, but I'm back, for now at least, so here's the next chapter of Replaced.**

**Big thanks to Vikki, FeralShadowwolf, kim, Toto Nation, BuffyBC, Zirofax, Mita427, HimikoSagara, Mony19, Amber85 and ****Autumn Soleil** **for reviewing**

**This one's quite short**

Angel sprinted through the streets of Sunnydale, all thoughts other than catching and killing these demons gone from his mind. With no dead demons, they had no slayer, and with no Slayer, they had no way to stop the coming Apocalypse.

He glanced behind him in frustration as Wood ceased to run, bending over double, gasping for air. He was forced to come to a halt to wait for the human to catch his breath. For the first time ever since regaining his soul, he wished that he had Spike's assistance. As much as he hated to admit it, he might actually need him in the upcoming fight.

"Okay, I'm ready" the principal said, taking a deep breath. Angel turned and slowed their pace to a jog instead, knowing that the mortal would need all his energy soon enough.

* * *

Buffy blinked as she slowly came around again. She frowned as she was momentarily lost, wondering what she was doing, chained to cave walls. Then it all came back to her… She began to thrash madly, hoping to break free, but the chains remained strong and taut. She eventually stopped as she could see it was doing no good, and plus she might tell he shadowmen that she was once again conscious, and she wanted time alone to think, if she couldn't escape just yet. However, they soon reappeared, probably having heard her previous outburst, so she tried Plan B, 

"Spike!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Surely he would run to the rescue, as he always did.

"Spike!" she tried again, but he didn't emerge from any hidden cavern. Buffy was here, well and truly alone. She opened her mouth to scream, one last time. Spike had never let her down when it really mattered, so surely he had to appear soon.

"He won't hear you" the Shadowman at the front said

"It was difficult" the second replied

"But we eventually managed to pacify him" the third finished

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked, suddenly fearful for Spike. If Spike heard her cries, there which he had to be able to do in these echoing caverns, there was only one explanation to why he wouldn't come. He was physically unable to, and their ability to do that to him scared Buffy more than anything they'd managed to do to her.

"Is he alive?" she asked worriedly.

"In a manner of speaking" the shadowmen spoke as one

"If you are to have any hope of withstanding the First's army, you must become stronger."

"By merging you blood with a demon's. That is the only way to true power. To true leadership. This is your only hope."

"A demon?" Buffy felt suddenly panicked for herself, all thoughts over Spike's safety pushed from her mind, "I don't want to be a demon"

"It is the only path to victory,"

"No" Buffy shook her head in denial. There must be some other way…

* * *

"A little help world be nice" Angel grunted as he attempted to ducka blow from the first demon, which he had mentally nicknamed 'Shorty', while simultaneously tried to dodge a punch from the other one. It didn't go as planned, and he got slammed against the wall for his trouble. Wood stood at the edge of the fray, looking for his opportune moment to strike. Angel moaned in pain as the demon scratched him with claws the like daggers and wondered why the hell he'd volunteered for this little mission. One of the creatures was enough to send him flying through the window… Two would defiantly be the end of him if Wood didn't get a move on 

"Any time you'd like to step in…" Angel prompted him again falling to his knees as Shorty clubbed him round the head, and suddenly, Wood sprung to life, swinging wildly at the taller demon with his battleaxe, reminding Angel of someone he knew. The demon let out an anguished howl as blood spurted from the wound in its side and collapsed onto the ground, writhing in pain. Shorty took one look at the other demon then hightailed it down the alleyway. Wood looked like he intended to follow, when Angel spoke

"No, leave it. I can track it later" He heaved himself to his feet, ignoring the pain he felt all over his body, and walked shakily to the deceased demon

"They're not so tough after all…" Angel mused, "All it takes is one good shot to take them down…"

"I'm surprised you could see, from your position on the floor" Wood mocked

"I was the one who did all the work. You just swooped in and took all the glory" Angel argued, hoisting the demon onto his shoulder wincing as it brushed against the scratch the demon had given him.

"Whatever. It doesn't look like you're fit to get the next one. I'll have to go after it by myself"

"No you won't. Not unless you want to get killed. Anyway, I'm fine. It's just a scratch."

"It looks deep,"

"I've had worse. Besides, someone else can go after the next one. When we put the demon in the portal Willow's making, it should send back either Buffy or Spike. Hopefully Buffy."

"You don't like Spike either?" Wood smiled dryly.

"It's not really so much dislike, as pure hatred" Angel said with no indication of humour in his tone "Spike and I go back a long way though, but we were never close… Except that one time…" he forced himself to stop that sentence now before things got out of hand and he started reminiscing about the old days. The last thing he needed was more people to know about his and Spike's 'closer times.' Neither of then would ever hear the end of it.

"I've had dealings with him myself, in the past" Wood said

"Really?" Angel asked, eyebrows raised incredulously, "how long ago are we talking here?"

"I was a young boy at the time"

"And you survived?"

"He didn't see me. He murdered my mother"

"Oh," Angel never knew what to say to those who had lost loved ones to demons. Especially when that demon was living below the same roof as him. "I'm sorry" he offered lamely

"She was the Slayer"

"Oh," Angel said again

"So I hope you can forgive me when I ask you, how much do you really hate Spike?"

* * *

"There you are" Dawn rushed from the house to greet the pair, "Willow's got the portal open. We were worried it would close before you got back." She stood aside to allow Angel to get into the house with the body of the demon, and then she noticed Wood's arms were empty 

"Where's the other one?"

"I'll go back for him in a bit" Angel said, straining under the weight of the demon as he walked into the living room.

"Where do you want it?" he asked Willow.

"Just throw it in the portal" she said, looking exhausted. Angel nodded, and tossed the dead weight forward, collapsing into a nearby armchair.

There was a blinding flash of light, and suddenly Buffy was standing where the demon used to lie, screaming refusals of some sort of power Her eyes were squeezed tight shut, and when Willow move closer to her, she thrashed out wildly, catching her on the face,

"Buffy, it's us!" Xander said, slowly approaching her, but she didn't seem to hear him over the sound of her own voice, "Buffy!" he roared again. Slowly, she opened her eyes and peered around the room cautiously

"You're home" Dawn whispered

"Where's Spike?" Buffy said, looking around, attempting to regain her composure. All eyes turned to Wood and Angel. Wood shrugged

"We're working on it"

"I couldn't take both demons at once" Angel explained, "We figured the sooner we could get one of you out of there, the better,"

"You were right. It was terrible"

"At least the portal's still open this time" Willow indicated the floating blue mass several feet behind Buffy, "All we have to do is get the other one"

"Yeah, that's all" Angel replied sarcastically, "You try killing one of those things,"

"So did you discover anything of interest?" Giles interrupted and began to clean his glasses

"Thank God you guys got me" she mumbled in reply, "There were Shadowmen there… They tried to make me a demon. Said it was the only way for us to win the fight" a slow tear slid its way down her cheek

"It's okay" Giles said soothingly, "We got you back in time"

"But what if they were right?"


	14. Teamwork

**Replaced chapter 14- Teamwork**

**Thanks to Mony19, kim (who's review inspired me), Vikki, BuffyBC (whos review also inspired me), Mita427, AutumnSoleil, Wolfram-and-Hart-Sauron, Amber85 and L.O.T.S. for reviewing the last chapter :D**

Spike blinked slowly as he regained consciousness, pain flooding through his entire body. He raised a heavy hand to his throbbing head to feel the extent of the damage, and groaned as he felt a large lump forming. He pushed himself to his feet slowly, and took a tentative step, then stumbled as he heard a click of metal on metal on the ground below him. Kneeling, he fumbled in the near pitch black, and his hand found a chain, attached to a shackle around his ankle. He heaved at it, but he couldn't make it budge.

He swore under his breath as he finally remembered all of the recent occurrences.

"Buffy!" he shouted, his voice echoing around the cavern he was seemingly trapped in. His sharp ears received no reply and he knew better than to call again. If she hadn't heard him, it was best to focus his energies elsewhere. He yanked on the chain again, with no avail. He was about to try again, when he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. Those damn Shadowmen wouldn't get the better of him again, that was for sure. He spun around to meet him, wary of the fact the other two were missing.

"Where's Tweedledee and Tweedledum?" he asked, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the problem before him. He trusted his ears to pick up where the other two where if they were to enter.

"They are preparing the chamber. The Slayer escaped our grasp"

"Good for her" Spike interjected, though secretly wondering why she'd left him behind

"Now you must take her place"

"Her place?" Spike really didn't like the sound of that

"The Sunnydale Hellmouth must be closed. If they are to succeed, then you must suffer" for once in his life, Spike was speechless. Suffer was a word he generally preferred to stay away from, but if it was the only way to close the Hellmouth, then he had to.

"What do you mean, suffer?"

"You must become pure demon, transgress into the primitive form. You alone are now the key to the Hellmouth's closure"

"What about my soul?" a lengthy silence met his question

"We do not know the impact it will have on your morality"

"If I don't have a soul, how can you expect me to even want to close the Hellmouth, never mind do it?"

"You will do it for her. The one you guard with your life." Spike considered this thoughtfully. If he was a pure demon, he would stand even less of a chance with the Slayer. But then, what chance did he ever really have in the first place?

"I'll do it"

* * *

"I don't believe that we have two vampires and a slayer, and I'm still the one doing the grunt work" Xander moaned as he and Wood walked through the darkened alleyways towards where Angel and Wood had defeated the other demon.

"Buffy needed a rest" Wood defended

"I know that, it's Angel that I'm blaming. I have no idea how he manages to run a detective agency when he's as lazy as that. And I don't know why we're even bothering to bring back Spike either. Him and Angel together are nothing but trouble."

"We need the demon dead either way. Those things are dangerous. I'd hate to see it meet someone who wasn't prepared." Wood scanned the surrounding area "I take it you're no Spike fan either?" Xander shrugged

"I like him a lot less than most others, but more than Angel"

"What's wrong with Angel?"

"I never really liked him, but his psychotic attack on us five years back really turned me against him."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you later" Xander said, suddenly spotting the thing they were pursuing in the distance. Wood made a mental note to press the matter later if the carpenter didn't bring it up. He had to know who he was working with, or his whole plan for Spike would fall apart.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Willow probed from her position on the very edge of Buffy's bed.

"They didn't hurt me." She said for what felt like the thousandth time

"That's not what I meant" a heavy silence hung in the air, before Buffy spoke

"The only time I've ever been more terrified was when Dawn was missing. I know that Anya used to be a demon, and that Spike and Angel still are, but…"

"But it's different when it's you" Willow concluded

"Yeah. And the worst thing is, I left Spike with them,"

"It wasn't your fault. And if he'd been brought back, you would be a demon by now"

"But what if they hurt him?"

"They won't stand a chance against Spike. Especially if he's looking for you."

"But they beat me" Buffy chewed her bottom lip worriedly,

"Spike can look after himself until Xander and Wood come back with the other demon"

"Xander and Wood! How do you expect them to beat it?"

"Relax, Angel's tailing them, just in case. He's staying out of sight, just in case he hurts their egos."

"Oh, that's okay then" Buffy yawned loudly

"You'd better get some rest" Willow stood up, and walked to the doorway, "Oh, and if you're lucky, Spike will be back by the time you're up"

"He better be, or I'm going in after him" Buffy promised,

* * *

Xander ducked the claws of the demon. Having seen the damage they'd done to Angel, he had no inclination to give it the opportunity to do the same to him. He and Wood were faring surprisingly well for two guys with no superpowers whatsoever, but Wood in particular was tiring.

"That's it" a voice came from the alley Wood and Xander had just left, "I'm helping you" Angel strode out, sword over one shoulder, towering over the demon.

"Oh great, it's Dead boy" Xander snapped , despite the rush of relief he felt when he saw him. Things would be okay now the original vampire with a soul was here, and he fell back, watching with a begrudging admiration as Angel worked. The demon was dead within thirty seconds.

"Let's get back," Angel said, barely pausing for breath. But of course, as Xander reminded himself, he didn't need any.

"What's the rush?" Wood said, brushing himself off. Angel and Xander exchanged a glance, and Wood pressed on, "I mean, it's only Spike."

"Buffy seems pretty worried" Xander said

"She was going to bed when we left. As long as he's back by the time she wakes up, it doesn't matter when he gets back, does it?"

"Unless he gets staked" Angel said, hoisting the body onto his shoulder, "Buffy would never forgive any of us if he died out there"

"Definitely" Xander needlessly agreed with Angel. It was plain he was going to take the demon corpse back to Willow with, or without his and Wood's support.

"Fine" Wood fell into step beside Angel, Xander lagging behind, "But have you given my earlier offer any more consideration?"

"Earlier offer?" Xander asked

"Yes, I'll do it" Angel told Wood, "But she can't know I had anything to do with it"

"She won't"

"Who won't? What are you guys talking about?" Xander asked

"Nothing" they replied in unison.

"Is this about Spike? Because I hated him way before you jumped on the bandwagon" Xander said to Wood

"I doubt it"

"Look" Angel dropped the caucus onto the ground, "Wood's planning on killing Spike. You in or not?" there was a brief silence,

"I don't know…" Xander said indecisively

"You shouldn't have told him" Wood told Angel

"He won't tell anyone. He knows I'll kill him if he does" Xander remained mute, knowing full well Angel would never dare to kill him while he was under Buffy's protection. And what was Wood's big problem with Spike anyway? He hadn't even known him when he was evil. He glanced at each of them, wondering if this was some sort of elaborate prank someone was playing on him, knowing a Spike free world would be his idea of heaven. He saw only determince in Wood's eyes, before fixing his gaze on Angel. He met his stare unblinkingly, and Xander had the horrible feeling that they meant every word.

"Look, I hate Dead Boy Junior as much as the next sane person, but we're going to need him for the apocalypse."

"We don't need him. Buffy knows it. Hell, even he knows it. His feelings for her are the only reason he's still here" Angel said, real hatred in his voice as he spoke, "He actually thinks he has a chance"

"He has a better chance than you" the words were out of Xander's mouth before he thought about what he was saying, and more importantly, who he was saying it to.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Angel snarled

"You went to LA. Riley flew off to God knows where. Sure, Spike left, but he came back within a few months, plus one soul. People have been leaving Buffy her whole life. He's just the one that stuck around. And she'll always love him on some level for that." Xander reasoned, then backtracked, "I don't like him any more than you, but that's just the way it is,"

"If we were to make it look like an accident…" Wood put forward

"No" Xander said firmly, "I hate Spike, but I could never do it to Buffy" Angel and Wood shared a long glance, and finally, Angel spoke

"You say anything about this, to anyone, and I mean _anyone_ I'll kill you, and then we'll see how well she does without you" Angel snapped

"Oh, I'm so scared" Xander replied sarcastically, but inside, he was shaking. Angelus would kill him in a second. That was obvious. However, this was Angel. Sure, Xander had never liked him, but he trusted him with his life. This new Angel, (for it had to be Angel, Spike would have noticed his lack of soul in an instant) frightened him more than the First did right now.

* * *

**reviews make a happy writer**


	15. Spike's Return

**Chapter 15- Spike's Return**

**Many thanks to Vikki, FeralShadowwolf, BuffyBC, L.O.T.S, Triston.Charon, Charli, Mita427, wtf, Zirofax, hopesforLoVe, amulak, the-tangoing-mango-addict, skyisme, crazyinseattle, Salty crackers, belle1089, stashleigh, angel's-one-and-only, blackangel427 and RC for their reviews! **

**Yes Angel was out of character, but also yes, it'll all make sense in the end. **

**Please R&R- even bad reviews make me happy!**

Xander trailed after a silent Angel and Wood, glaring at Angel's back, planning his next move. He knew he had to tell someone. He couldn't just let them kill Spike, despite his own personal feelings of dislike for him. Soon, they were back at the Summers' house, and Xander watched Willow and Angel discuss the spell needed for Spike's return in whispers. He slipped out, mumbling something about needing the toilet, and no one paid any heed to him. He walked swiftly through the darkened rooms of Buffy's house, scanning the sleeping faces with someone who wasn't a potential, just so he could speak to someone else who had experience with Angel.

In the darkness, he walked straight into Giles, causing him to emit a muffled grunt.

"Xander, what are you doing in the bedrooms at this hour?"

"I need to talk to you, G-man" Giles frowned at the use of the old, despised nickname, but nodded, ushering him into the kitchen, shutting the door behind them

"What's wrong?"

"I don't exactly know how to put this… but Angel and Wood… they're plotting something"

"Whatever do you mean?" Giles removed his glasses and searched his pockets for something to clean them with

"They want to kill Spike." There was a long pause, which Giles finally broke,

"Don't worry, I'll speak to Angel"

"Thanks" Xander felt like a weight had been lifted from him

"Keep this to yourself. If Spike ever gets to hear of it, we could have a fight on our hands." Xander nodded sagely. Giles could sort everything. He could forget Angel had even threatened him. They both turned their heads sharply when there came a scream of pain from the other room. Xander was through the door within five seconds, Giles right behind him.

Spike was writhing on the ground; surprisingly loud yelps of agony were coming from him. His vampire face was showing, and there was blood on the tips of his fangs. Willow was kneeling on the floor beside him, trying to calm him. Seemingly every one in the building was awake at this point, all crowding into the living room to see the source of the commotion. Buffy appeared last of all, pushing her way through the crowd, reaching the front, just as Spike gave a final shudder of pain and fell silent, seemingly unconscious. Buffy was beside Spike, on the ground in an instant, stroking his hair, whispering something to him, pleading with him to wake up.

Xander glanced at Wood and Angel, and noted the dark glance they exchanged, before turning his gaze to Giles, who was also observing the vampire and the principal. As soon as he looked back at Spike, the vampire's eyelids flicked open. His bright yellow eyes were feral looking, and his gaze was flashing from person to person, refusing to settle on any one person. Complete silence overtook the room

"Spike?" Dawn said tentatively, "Are you okay?" Spike blinked slowly, sitting up and fixing his stare on the teenager. Slowly, he nodded.

"What happened?" she asked. Spike cleared his throat, and then spoke in a rough voice

"A spell. They wanted me to be a pure demon. They didn't finish it. The Wicca must have interrupted them. Again."

"We were so worried" Buffy spoke to him for the first time since his return. Spike turned slowly to face her as she kneeled beside him on his left side. He smiled softly, an expression which looked very out of place while his vamparic face was on display.

"I'm just glad you're okay" Spike said, before standing up, pulling Buffy up with him. He touched Willow's shoulder softly and hissed, almost inaudibly,

"Can I have a word later?"

"Sure" she nodded, bemused. He turned away from her again, and walked towards the basement stairs without another word to those assembled.

"Not even a thank you" Wood rolled his eyes

"He's been through a lot. Can you blame him for wanting to sleep?" Buffy turned on him. Wood shook his head, but the annoyance was still obvious in his eyes.

"I'm going to bed too" Angel announced, and looked slightly irritated when no one acknowledged him.

* * *

He followed Spike down the stairs, and glanced over at him in his bed while he got into his. Spike's eyes were wide open, that same blank expression in his yellow eyes, the fangs still on display

"You might want to change. I think your scaring some of the Potentials" Angel commented

"Change?"

"Your face" Spike sat up, looking annoyed, "You know, the whole vampire face thing. It's really not flattering"

"Vampire face?" Spike's hand rose to his face, and touched his forehead, feeling the wrinkles, "I didn't even notice" Angel gave him a few moments, but he made no further movement

"So are you changing, or not?"

"I already did" There was an exhausted element to Spike's tone now

"No, you didn't" Again the hand rose to the face, and a look of worry entered the eyes now. Angel heard Spike curse under his breath

"I think I'm stuck like this"

* * *

Willow was the first awake that morning, and was shovelling corn flakes quickly into her mouth in the hope that she'd be long gone from the kitchen before the daily avalanche of Potentials hit it. She glanced up when she heard a creak at the basement door, and Spike emerged a moment later. Strangely, his vampire face was still on show from the previous night.

"Eh… Spike" she gestured at her face, in the hope he'd understand

"I know" he snapped irritably, "I'm stuck like this"

"What do you mean, _stuck_?" she was confused

"I can't change. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. When I was with the Shadowmen, they said that the only chance we had was if I were to become a full demon. Now that you've interrupted the ritual again, we don't have a chance of winning"

"We'll find a way. We always do."

"I'd rather do it without anyone dying this time" Spike said, harshly, "You have to send me back"

"I can't, even if I did want to. The pedestal for the shadow puppets disappeared as soon as you and Buffy went through it"

"Then you'll have to find a different way."

"There is no different way"

"Then we're all going to die" A heavy silence overcame them. Eventually Willow spoke,

"Then we'll all die together. As a team. I'll start work on getting rid of the vampire face as soon as I get the time" Spike didn't reply, just stared into space, his yellow eyes unnerving Willow more than she was prepared to admit to him.

* * *

Half an hour later, Giles entered the kitchen, squeezing through a clump of gossiping teenagers. He spotted the open basement door, and called to Willow

"Where's Spike?"

"I think he went for a walk"

"In the daylight?"

"He took the sewers"

"Oh, yes, of course. Is Angel still in?"

"I haven't seen him leave" Willow shrugged, "But then again, he could have slipped out without anyone knowing. He's good at that." Giles called his thanks, and walked into the cool, quiet basement

"Angel?"

"What?" he sounded grumpy. He held a cup of blood in his hand, and was sipping from it slowly

"I heard an interesting tale from Xander"

"Let me guess. It involves Spike, Wood and I. Well don't worry. Everything's under control"

"I'm sure it is. I just want you to know you have my full support"

"What?" it sounded like he was choking on his blood, "I would have thought you'd want Spike alive to fight the good fight"

"He would be useful, as long as he doesn't turn. However, we can't be sure he won't, and it's better to be safe than sorry. Oh, and I can keep Xander quiet."

"I'll get Wood to fill you in then" Angel said, and Giles saw the suspicion and surprise in the vampire's eyes. He knew he didn't trust him, but that was fine. Giles didn't particularly trust either Angel _or _Wood either. However, they needed to unite together against this common enemy if he were ever to be removed.

* * *

**Reviews are love.**

**Or hate, depending on what you think of me.**

**I welcome either :D**


	16. A Fan?

**Firstly, sorry for the long gap between updates. for once, it really wasn'y my fault lol this site wouldn't let me upload anything.**

**Secondly, thanks a lot to Stephanie, Vikki, Save a Spike Kill an Angel, Amulak, Marykiss, stash the socks, L.O.T.S, Mony19, clarity queen, Toto Nation, crazyinseattle, BuffyBC, blackangel, wwefan01, adjovi and Blue.**

**Oh, and to Blue, sorry about the lack of LA stuff, but I haven't seen very much of Ats, (though what I have seen, I like. ) so i don't really want to get into it and its charecters during this story.**

"I spoke to Angel" Xander looked up, surprised. He hadn't heard the librarian enter the room.

"And?" He looked at him expectantly. Giles sighed. Xander was like a son to him, and lying to his face would be difficult, however he knew he had to do it if they were to eliminate Spike with minimum obstacles. He knew Buffy would be deeply hurt upon Spike's death, but she would move on. She had done from Angel, and Giles had every confidence she would be able to do so again. Maybe this time, she would fall for a nice, normal, human boy, and leave the creatures of the night well alone.

It was clear Angel was deluded, believing she would turn to him when Spike died. That was obviously the real reason he was taking part in this plan. Anyone who really knew Buffy like he did knew she would never return to Angel now. Like it or not, they'd both changed too much over the years. She was no longer the smitten teen, and he could no longer simply protect her. He had his own city to look after, and Buffy had no place there.

"And I talked him out of it. He now believes that any such attempt on Spike's life would be foolish as Buffy would never forgive him."

"Good" the relief and trust in Xander's eyes was killing him, so he turned away, "I'm going to get some supplies. I'll be back soon" Xander nodded and returned to his cereal, as Giles left the Summers' household.

Buffy was the next to wake, the exhaustion plain in her eyes , and her feet dragging with every step into the kitchen.

"You don't look so good Buff"

"Thanks Xan" she smiled wearily, "I couldn't sleep last night. Every time I shut my eyes, one of the potentials screamed, or threw something and I just woke up again" He smiled sympathetically,

"I'd have thought you'd be used to it by now"

"Not quite" she grimaced, "Spike up yet?"

"He's gone out" Angel answered, appearing in the doorway, speaking before Xander had a chance to, "You need him for something?" Buffy shook her head,

"I just wanted to talk"

"You can always talk to me" he said, sounding concerned.

"It's nothing, really. Just training tactics for the potentials. Nothing you'd be interested in." He looked sceptical, but decided to let it drop.

* * *

Angel ducked the fist that came flying towards his head, and gripped his stake tighter, ready to go in for the kill. However, a cry from his right distracted him momentarily, allowing the peroxide blonde vampire to overpower him

"A little help would be nice!" he called to no one in particular, as he struggled to regain the advantage. No one, however, came to his aid, so he barked out names,

"Wood! Giles! Help." The other vampire exploded into dust above him, and Angel choked violently, swallowing some of it. A round of applause appeared from behind a trash can, followed by a worried voice

"Is that the last of them?"

"Yes" Angel glowered as he pushed himself to his feet. He really had to start giving himself time to heal properly before getting hurt again. Andrew stood up, trying to look as tall as possible, before turning the camcorder on himself,

"As you can see, gentle viewers, the original vampire with a soul triumphs again against his adversary, with a little help from his friends of course. Join us for tomorrow's patrol, with Buffy, Spike and Xander, when…"

"Andrew!" Angel growled, "Turn that thing off"

"Got to go" Andrew whispered hurriedly to the recorder, before snapping it shut.

"Why is he even here?" Wood asked, "All he does is hide."

"Buffy wanted him out of her hair for a while" Giles said, cleaning his glasses with his shirt.

"So we get stuck with him?"

"I'm standing right here!" the young man protested, waving his camcorder wildly as he spoke, "And anyway, I can fight!"

"Then why didn't you?" Andrew paused for a moment, before answering weakly

"Because someone had to use the camcorder."

"Of course, how silly of me" Wood said dryly

"I knew I shouldn't have come with you. I would have had a much better time with Spike and the potentials, and…"

"Spike would have killed you by now" Angel interrupted, "And was it just me, or did those vampires we dusted look really like him?"

"The resemblance was extraordinary" Giles nodded

"Maybe they're his fans" Andrew said.

"Fans?" Wood snorted, "Vampires don't have fans"

"That's not strictly true" Giles pointed out, "There are those, such as Dracula are known to have gathered quite a following of younger vampires. However, I doubt Spike would have gained such a celebrity status among the creatures of the night, especially considering his allegiance lately."

"So it's just a coincidence?" Andrew asked sceptically

"Yeah. Maybe there's a Billy Idol concert in the area, and a few people got sired…"

* * *

Andrew crept down the basement stairs carefully, treading as softly as he could, hoping to avoid a confrontation with either of the vampires that currently resided down there. However, his entrance did not go unnoticed.

"What?" Spike snapped. Andrew froze as he saw Spike's gleaming yellow eyes staring at him through the darkness.

"I haven't seen you around today…" he forced himself to speak

"I'm trying to stay out of the way. You should try it sometime. Now is there anything in particular you wanted, or are you just here to irritate the Hell out of me?"

"I… I just wanted to…"

"Okay, I'm going to count to five, and by the time I've finished, you're going to either have managed to tell me what you're doing here, or have gone. Preferably the latter."

"Do you want to be videoed?" Andrew blurted out

"What?" Andrew waved his camera in the air, and explained

"I'm interviewing everyone. I thought you might want to be on it too"

"And why would you think that?"

"From one outsider to another, I thought maybe you'd like to see what it's like to be on the inside for a change."

"I'm already on the inside" Spike was sounding more and more annoyed by the second.

"But are you really? This video could give everyone the chance to see the real you"

"The 'real me' would have killed you by now." Spike said, turning away from him, "Go bother someone else for a change." Andrew sighed, defeated and started to ascend the stairs again. Before he could reach the top, the door flew open and Buffy stood in the doorway,

"Spike, I need a favour." Spike nodded silently, and started to climb up the stairs to where she was standing. As he reached her, Buffy looked at Andrew apologetically

"Sorry. This is need to know information. I would tell you too, but…" Andrew knew why. Because Spike was right. He was on the inside, alongside nearly everyone else. Andrew was the only one who still hadn't earned his right to be in the team. His eyes downcast, he left the small room, taking his camera with him.

* * *

Angel was the only one who noticed Andrew's entrance, and wondered what exactly Spike had said to him, as he sat alone and dejected looking in the corner, not even attempting to force his camera on anyone. A few minutes later, Spike and Buffy emerged from the basement too. Angel's eyes sought out Buffy's emerald ones, wondering what exactly had been said down there. The instant their eyes met, Buffy looked away again, scanning the rest of the room, no doubt checking everyone was there. Angel turned next to the taller, and far less pretty blonde who had entered beside her. Spike's yellow eyes had a feral look to them and his already wrinkled brow was furrowed in concentration, as he too scanned the room. His gaze rested on the man to Angel's right, Robin Wood, and Angel wondered if he had somehow figured out what he was planning.

As Buffy began her speech, talking about how they planned to go down to the Seal of Danzalthar and close it, using a complicated spell, Angel found he was only half listening, instead focusing on the pair who looked like they were about to kill each other at any minute. Angel knew that that night was not the time for Wood to carry out his plan, however, it looked like the second they got the chance the two men would fly at each other. Time to do some damage control.

"I need three people to come with me to go to the actual seal itself."

"I'll do it" Andrew's spoke up timidly. All eyes turned to him in shock. To say he wasn't the type for self sacrifice would be a total understatement.

"Spike and I will come too" Angel decided. It would be easier to keep him away from Wood like that. Spike looked up, surprised, but nodded once in confirmation.

"Good" Buffy too looked a little thrown, but moved on, "I'll need another two or three to watch the perimeter." Angel sat back, not for the first time, wondering exactly how he'd managed to get himself into this.

* * *

"So… What's with this new united front?" Buffy whispered to Angel as they chose their weapons.

"What?"

"You and Spike. I never thought I'd see the day when the pair of you worked together on my side."

"Me neither" they fell into an awkward silence, which Buffy broke, sounding worried.

"Have I done something to upset you?"

"No. Why?"

"You've been avoiding me,"

"I've just had a lot on my mind." She frowned as he gave her a false smile, "So why do you think Andrew suddenly found his courage?"

"Well… I kind of asked Spike to manipulate him into it." Buffy admitted. Angel gave her a ghost of a smile, before turning his back on her. She forced herself to smile too, and ignored his recently cold demeanour, as she went to make sure Andrew didn't back out of this at the last second.

* * *

**Make me smile. Give a review.**


	17. Journey to the Seal

**I know, it's been a looooooong time between updates, and it's entirely me and my many exams fault.**

**I hope you can forgive me enough to send me reviews. The good news is that summer is fast approaching, and summer holidays always means I get more time to write. In theory anyway lol. **

**Merci beaucoup to L.O.T.S, Mony19 (sorry, there's not really any Spuffy scenes in this chapter, but there are some coming really soon), Vikki, The Blue Faerie, ncsirspeedlimit, Save A Spike, Kill An Angel, stashthesocks and crazyinseattle for reviewing chapter 16**

**and without any further ado, here's chapter 17- Journey to the Seal**

The journey to the Seal was one of complete silence, any potentials that Buffy had chosen, along with Andrew, were clearly terrified about what they might meet there, while among the older, more seasoned fighters, there was a defiant air of mistrust, and even hatred radiating between some. Eventually when they entered the school, they were attacked by crazed teenagers, most of whom were too out of it to even notice Spike's demonic face. The group managed to get them under control quickly, while Andrew cowered behind Xander during the fray.

The numbers gradually depleted as Buffy left a few fighters at every entrance they passed, clearly hoping to minimise the chances of a surprise attack by anyone. Finally, after a brief goodbye to Wood, Giles and Xander, who stopped at the entrance to the basement, only Angel, Spike, Buffy and Andrew remained.

"Feeling okay, kid?" Spike decided to throw the boy a lifeline. Andrew had been getting consistently paler since volunteering and Spike wasn't entirely sure he would make it. He gave a tiny nod in return, and the blonde vampire glanced at his grandsire. His dark eyes were fixed on the floor in front of him, and he looked lost in thought.

"What's going on with you?" Spike fell back to talk to him, figuring they had nothing better to do than talk, until more of the inevitable fighting broke out.

"What?"

"You've been brooding even more than usual, and while I'm sure the ladies _love_ your wounded puppy act, this really ain't the time to be picking up the girls, is it?" he had to smirk at the dark look Angel shot him. Baiting Angel was one of the few passtimes he still enjoyed on a regular basis, and he wouldn't give it up for anything.

"I was just thinking…" Angel began

"Careful you don't strain yourself." Angel glared at him again and fell silent

"You were thinking what?" Spike prompted eventually

"It doesn't matter."

"Fine then." After another few minutes, Angel spoke again

"Honestly, how famous would you say you are in the underworld?" there was something about the urgency in his tone that made Spike think twice about another joke

"More than Drusilla, less than you. Why?"

"I saw a look-alike today" Spike furrowed his already crinkled brow in confusion,

"The reason most would know me around here is because I've been killing my own kind. Why would a vampire look up to me?"

"That's what I thought."

"Who else was with you?"

"Wood and Giles."

"What they think?"

"Neither of them seemed that worried to be honest"

"But you are?"

"There's just something that's not right about it" Spike nodded in agreement, and they fell silent.

Within a few minutes, they reached the seal. Buffy was tackled to the ground by a possessed quarterback, and Angel and Spike were pushed back against the walls with inhumane strength, leaving Andrew alone in the middle of the room, surrounded by three others. As Buffy fought off her attacker, she shouted to him, telling him to run, fight, hide, anything to defend himself, but he stood still, looking petrified.

Moments later, Wood appeared from nowhere, ploughing into one, providing the distraction needed to allow the two vampires and the slayer to regain the upper hand. Andrew backed miserably into a corner and watched the onslaught as one by one as the teenagers fell to the ground unconscious. There was chaos everywhere, and everything was moving too fast. For a second, Andrew was sure he saw a stake poised above Spike's back, but then he blinked at it was gone, and the only two within reaching distance of the blonde vampire were Angel and the principal.

Eventually, the violence died down and Andrew stood shaking, knowing he had been a failure once again. Buffy shot him a cold look, before turning to the other three,

"Thanks for the help. Andrew and I will be up in a minute." Andrew sighed. He could feel the anger radiating off her, and he wondered, not for the first time why he'd even volunteered to help.

* * *

Spike glanced back at the pair who were following him back towards the entrance, noting the furious look they both shared. Knowing better than to ask, he ignored them and walked at a brisker pace, hoping they wouldn't affect the first good mood he'd been in for a long time. Before long, he reached another battlefield beside the lockers that Giles and Xander were guarding, and threw himself into the brawl, able to feel at peace there, when so many emotional wars were being waged elsewhere.

* * *

As soon as Spike disappeared out of sight ahead, Angel rounded on Wood

"What the Hell was that?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, I was trying to get rid of our mutual enemy, until you knocked that stake out of my hand.

"In front of how many witnesses? Buffy was in the room! The boy was looking right at you for God's sake!"

"I would have blamed one of the kids, you would have backed me up and they would have believed me. I don't get what the problem is."

"The problem is that either you do this like we planned, or you can kill him by yourself."

"Fine. But I just saw an opportunity, and I took it. That's all."

"Well don't 'take any more opportunities' unless I saw so."

"Since when do you tell me what to do?"

"I'm bigger than you, I'm stronger than you and I'm the only one who has a chance in Hell of kicking Spike's ass, so I'm thinking I call the shots around here." Angel decided before quickening his pace, putting some space in between him and the principal, afraid that if he didn't, he might do something he'd later regret.

* * *

"Need some help?" Angel called to no one in particular as he too reached the locker area. He kicked a boy off Giles and spun around, ready to send his fist flying into the next person he saw, friend or foe, it didn't matter. However, no sooner had he turned when the adolescents all stopped fighting, as if some great power had flicked a switch, they all stopped what they were doing, and looked at each other blankly.

Angel offered his hand to Giles, who was still on the ground and pulled him to his feet

"Maybe you're getting too old for this life, Rupert" Spike suggested from somewhere to Angel's left

"As much as I hate to agree with dead boy junior, you might want to start training again G-man" Xander suggested.

"I'm fine" Giles argued, cleaning his glasses, "Now I'm going to find somewhere to sit down." Angel nodded along with Xander, and they all started to move towards the entrance. However, Angel noticed his grand-childe wasn't moving,

"Coming?" he tried to sound as casual as possible, knowing that if an infuriated Wood were to meet Spike in the hallway, the end result would not be pretty.

"I'm going to wait for Buffy"

"Me too" he decided, desperate to keep them apart until the time was right. Spike looked at him curiously,

"I'm not going to attack her, you know"

"I know." Angel frowned

"Then why have you been following me around these past few days? It's as if you're just waiting for me to do something to her." And suddenly, Angel found that he just didn't care anymore. Let Wood attempt to kill Spike if he wanted, and then he could deal with the consequences. This whole plan was more trouble than it was worth.

"Fine. I'll see you back at the house then."

* * *

**Comments and inspiration are great.**


	18. The Army of Clones

**I was planning a 'Lies my parents told me' chapter, with plenty of spuffyness before changing my mind, and deciding to resolve this little storyline first.**

**Fear not, Spuffy, Faith, and the classic line of 'Next time I'll let him kill you' are coming! But just not quite yet. Faith should make an appearance within the next 5 chapters, while the line will probably be here in 2 or 3. Spuffy will emerge next chapter, with a gaurenteed kiss. **

**My reviewers- Vikki, Spike's baby-gurl (sorry, he's not pure demon), desertrose, Mony 19, AddictedToYou, darklover, L.O.T.S. and BittenStaked for reviewing the last chapter and to blackangel247 for reminding me to update.**

**anyways, here's chapter 18, which I think is the first I've written that doesn't really go with any episode.**

"What is it you wanted me to see?" Spike asked, easily keeping pace with the watcher he was following through the deserted alleyways.

"Something important" was the only response he received

"Yeah, I got that from the way you woke me up at three am and told me that we were leaving." Giles gave a non committal grunt, and Spike was torn between going onwards, or just abandoning him and his games.

"Anyone else coming?"

"Wood, and maybe Angel."

"Great," Spike muttered, "You didn't consider bringing Buffy? Or Willow? Or someone who _doesn't_ hate me?"

"Buffy has quite enough on her plate without us giving her more to worry about" Giles rounded on him, "Now you can earlier help me with this, or you can leave and Wood and I will deal with the carnage. Your choice."

"I'm coming" Spike sighed, and had the distinct impression that Giles knew that was what he would say all along.

* * *

Eventually, they broke through a ring of trees, somewhere on the outskirts of the national park. They walked onwards still, for fifteen minutes, until Giles signalled Spike to stop and led him to the edge of a steep drop

"What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?" the bleach blonde vampire asked. Giles simply nodded downwards, and Spike peered over the edge. Finally he saw Sunnydale High's principle standing near the bottom,

"What's he doing down there?" Spike asked.

"Just wait" evidently the ex-librarian wasn't in the mood to chat tonight.

"How long's this going to take? The sun will be up soon." He noticed the change in Giles instantly, his originally bored look transforming to one of concentration as he stared at a spot over Spike's shoulder, down towards the grass Wood was standing on. Spike turned too, and then he saw it. An army of blonde vampires, donning leather dusters were walking out to meet the principle, the other vampire with a soul at his head.

"Bloody Hell"

"My thoughts exactly" Giles agreed. Spike stared out at the masses of vampires below him,

"Why are they here?"

"That depends what you mean. I assume they're in Sunnydale to meet you. They're in this park now because Angel led them here."

"Why?"

"Someone needs to find out what's going on, and you drew the short straw."

"Why me?"

"For some absurd reason, they seem to worship you."

"And what do you think they'll do when they hear I'm a white hat now?"

"I don't know" Giles admitted, "But whatever happens it'll be interesting to observe the reactions of a cult when their hero figure is shown for what he truly is."

"Thanks for that, mate" Spike grumbled, climbing over the edge to meet the approaching others.

* * *

Angel met him half way down the slope

"So what's going on with them?" Spike asked

"They're all newly turned." Angel launched straight into the explanation "A couple of the slightly older ones heard of you through the grapevine and the started talking… and before you know it, this happened." He nodded in the direction of the vampires that all looked nearly identical to Spike.

"You don't actually believe that?" Spike asked incredulously

"Why wouldn't I?" Angel gave a half shrug, "look-alikes aren't unheard of"

" But this many? And they must have heard that I don't kill anymore."

"Why? I didn't know. Why should they?"

"Something's not right here." Spike said firmly, "And you may be many things, but you're not stupid. Why am I really here?" Angel gave a sigh and said

"You're right, but if something is wrong, there's no chance we'll be able to fight that many of them.Not in the middle of everything else that's going on around here. The best we can do is get rid of them now, and then we can fight them later. Let's just do this. For Buffy." Sighing, Spike led the way forwards, Angel following behind.

* * *

By the time they reached the bottom, Wood had already gone out to meet them. Spike stopped as he saw one of the vampires clearly for the first time. He hadn't looked in a mirror for several centuries, but he assumed if he did, the sight he was greeted with would be very similar to the vampires lined up ahead.

"Coming?" Angel sounded impatient

"Yeah. It's just they're so…" he struggled to find words to describe the similarity

"Like you?" Angel suggested, "That is the general idea." Spike forced himself to move onwards, ignoring the part of himself that was telling him to run from this, and to leave the others to deal with it. Angel seemed to notice his reluctance, for he called him back,

"I met my first look-alike a few years back. I know, it's weird to look at them, but trust me, it's even stranger killing them." Spike hadn't even contemplated that yet and the prospect made him shudder.

* * *

When the reached Wood, he was in the middle of a furious argument with the vampire at the front of the ranks. A dispute it looked like he would be quick to lose.

"What's going on?" Angel asked, striding to Wood's side

"You promised us Spike would be here." One shouted out, "Where is he?"

"Here" Spike rounded the corner to stand next to his grandsire, feeling a shiver of apprehension. At once, a deathly silence fell over the area, and Spike assumed they were waiting for him to speak,

"Who's in charge here?" there was a general murmuring, before a voice piped up

"I am"

"No you're not" argued another, before addressing Spike, "She's not here."

"She?" all the other assembled vampires appeared to be male.

"She's arriving soon"

"You know who it is?" Spike asked Angel, and he received a shake of the head in response. A ripple ran through the crowd, and Spike could see it parting slightly. He took a step backwards, onto a rock to elevate his position to try and see this approaching figure, but by the time he could, it was too late for him to react.

"Spike"

"Dru" she looked as insane as ever, a gleeful smile on her face, her head tilted as she stared at him.

"Angelus. My boys are back together." She raised a hand to Angel's face, and he jerked his head back, attempting to avoid the contact, "But bad Spikey's gone and got himself a soul. For that little…"

"That's enough Dru" Angel cut her off. Spike didn't feel up to speaking yet, "Why did you do this" he gestured to the assembled vampires behind her

"My boys have both left me for the slayer. If the slayer is dead, then you both will be free."

"You're not going to kill Buffy." Spike suddenly spoke, "Because it's not just her you'll have to fight. It'll be us and her Scoobies as well. And did I mention the army of potentials she's building? Your little group of fledglings wouldn't stand a chance."

"But her slayer army isn't here now, is it?" she asked, smiling, her eyes dark and emotionless. Angel and Spike exchanged a glance that lasted less than a second, but in that moment they were distracted, Dru screamed,

"Now!"

"What…" the question died on his lips as the group surged forward as one unit, knocking him off his feet.

It was evident from the beginning that they were going to lose. Spike's one reassuring thought was that Giles, from his position above would have a clear view of what was happening. How long would it be until help came? An hour? Maybe even two.

"Angel!" his shout received no reply, and he knew that the other vampire had probably been pulled away in the surge. It was easy to pick out Drusilla and Wood in the mass of vampires, as the only two non-blondes in sight. Dru looked elevated, as she held him by his throat, ready for the kill. Ducking what looked like a mirror image of himself's punch; Spike stumbled across to them, and barrelled into his sire, knocking the principal from her grasp.

"If you can get out, go!" he barked, hoping Wood would have the sense to avoid any heroics. He turned his attentions back to his sire, and barked Angel's name again, hoping that he would somehow come to his rescue, because as hard as it would be to stake a mirror image of himself, harming Dru would be so much worse.

* * *

Angel heard Spike, but didn't waste his energy replying. He would need all of it to get out of this trap he'd walked into. He vaguely wondered whether or not Wood was still alive, and then dismissed the thought. Wood was an ally, but not a friend. His death would be unfortunate, but not worth brooding about at the present time. What was important was getting out, warning Buffy, and bringing help. Spike's voice shouted his name again, something in his tone that Angel couldn't quite place. Fear? Helplessness? Maybe something different entirely. Still he ignored him, and kneed another clone in the stomach. He was losing, and he knew it. He just hoped someone had broken through inthe ranks. Buffy was what was important. Nothing else.

* * *

**Next chapter- Dru has Spike and Angel hostage, and buffy comes to the rescue.**


	19. Trapped Together

**Thanks to my wonderful reviewers from the last chapter, Mony19, chemicalgirl13, smlcspike, darklover, mita427, L.O.T.S, Secret slayer and CarlitaPants.**

**As promised, Spike and Angel are stuck together, and it ends with a Spuffy kiss. It didn't go exactly how I thought it would, but review and tell me what you think anyway.**

Spike opened his eyes slowly, and wished he hadn't, as the blinding artificial light of the room sent a pain flashing through his skull. After a few moments, his eyes had adjusted, and he glanced around the room he was trapped in. The walls were painted white, and the ground which he was sitting on was made of cool, harsh concrete. In the far corner, there was a red, sticky mess pooled on the floor, with some spread up the wall as well. Before he'd even sniffed the air, he knew that it was blood, though whose he was uncertain.

He stood slowly, stretching his limbs, and attempted to discover the extent of the damage. It seemed he was a lot better off than he had been during his time with the First, as now he only seemed to have minor wounds, and with the exception of his still aching head, he felt fine.

He spun as he heard the creak of the door opening behind him. Before he could react, someone heavy slammed into him, knocking him off his feet, and sprawling to the floor. In that instant, the lights flickered off, making a sharp contrast to the light he was used to. He heard the slam of the door in the background, but ignored it, focusing solely on his new enemy; he kicked upwards viciously hoping to push him off. The figure above him made no move to defend himself, but grunted when Spike made contact, and swore loudly, in a voice Spike new all to well

"Angel?"

"Spike?"

"Get the hell off me!" he snapped, and the weight above him shifted suddenly. Spike sat up once more as the light returned, and Dru's voice flooded from an intercom he previously hadn't noticed.

"Aren't my boys going to fight?"

"Bugger off!" Spike snapped, turning to the elder vampire on the floor in front of him.

Angel seemed to have got a worse treatment than Spike had. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and the rest of his face was streaked with blood. Spike spotted various long, deep scratches running down Angel's torso through the rips in his shirt, which he recognised as Drusilla's work, while there were several holes of various sizes dotted all over his body.

"Were they torturing you?" Angel nodded weakly, and Spike remembered his own botched attempt at stealing the ring of Amarea distinctly. Angel coughed hollowly, and used the wall to help himself sit up.

"A couple of Dru's followers will make very psychopathic vampires if someone doesn't kill them first. There was a point when I would have told them anything they'd asked me, but they didn't care. They already know everything they need to. They just tortured me because it gave them a kick."

"Remind you of anyone?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow

"I managed to kill one" Angel pretended that Spike hadn't spoken

"We'll get a hell of a lot more than one when Buffy comes"

"Why would she? She doesn't need either of us"

"Well I dunno about you, but she'd always come for me." Spike said with more confidence than he felt.

"If she comes for anyone, it'll be me. You'll just be an added bonus." Angel snapped

"Yeah, you keep deluding yourself mate and I'll think of a way out of here for us."

"I thought the slayer was coming."

"She is. This'll do as a backup."

* * *

"Spike? Angel?" Buffy stood at the top of the basement stairs, straining her eyes to see if the vampires were either too deeply asleep to here her, or simply absent from the room. She raised her voice slightly, well aware that neither of them would berate her for waking them, "You guys down here?" She climbed down the steps slowly, and peered around. After deducing that the pair were definitely not there, she took the steps two at a time back upstairs again, and into the kitchen, where Dawn, Willow and several of the more morning orientated potentials were eating 

"Have any of you seen Spike or Angel?"

"Aren't they back yet?" Willow sounded concerned, but nobody else seemed to care that they were missing

"Back? From where?"

"Angel was going out when I came in last night, around midnight, and I overheard Giles telling Wood that he and Spike were going out around three."

"Did he say why?"

"Probably something about patrol" Willow shrugged, returning to her cereal

"Don't look so worried, Buffy" Dawn chastised, "They're both old enough to look after themselves"

"But the suns been up for hours"

"They're probably just hiding out somewhere until the sun goes down."

* * *

The door opened again, and another look-alike came in, clutching a large sheath knife to his chest, and glanced nervously between the two vampires. It was obvious that the fledgling had decided that at that moment, Angel wasn't a threat to anyone as he had his beady eyes fixed warily on Spike as he scuttled around the room to Angel's side. Spike made no movement towards him, but waited until he let his guard down, and he would have the opportunity to wrestle the knife from him. 

He frowned, wondering what was going on as the young vampire proceeded to use the knife to cut off a bit of Angel's already shredded shirt, and then turned to him, sounding almost apologetic

"I have to cut you with this." Spike crouched, ready to leap and plough into him, as the boy positioned the blade over one of the few unmarked places on Angel's chest, and pressed down. Spike suddenly wondered what was wrong with his grandsire. Why wasn't he fighting? The Angel he knew wouldn't just let himself be treated like this, no matter how beat up he was.

Then as if he could read Spike's mind, Angel lunged forward, spearing himself in the process, but flattening the younger vampire. They rolled around the room, crashing into the walls, smearing even more blood everywhere. Spike was about to join the fray when he heard Dru's voice to the left of him, and he frowned, unable to remember hearing her enter.

"Now, now Angelus. Who's being a naughty boy?" Neither of the battling vampires paid her any attention, so Spike too shoved her to the back of his mind as he saw the knife that had previously been embedded in Angel's chest come skidding across the floor. He stopped it with his foot, and turned on Dru, hoping that if she was dead, then hopefully her ranks would fall. He heard Angel shouting his name, but ignored him, starting forward slowly. He and Dru circled one another, before Spike lunged suddenly. Seconds too late, the image before him transformed into Buffy and he flew straight through her, and crashed heavily into the wall.

Recovering quickly, he turned to see a bloodied Angel staring at him as if he were insane, and a retreating fledgling, clutching the fragment of Angel's shirt to him like he had earlier with the knife

"Spike, what the Hell...?" Spike was aware he had been tricked; that Drusilla had never been in the room; that it had been the First acting as a distraction for the younger vampire. However, none of that mattered now, because Spike was holding a deathly sharp knife, Angel was lying weakened on the floor, and the First, in the form of the slayer, had started to sing…

* * *

Buffy was starting to get very worried when she dialled Giles' number, and then Wood's and received no reply from either of them. If she had any idea where to look, she would have gone out by now and started the search, however that clearly wasn't an option. The crash of breaking glass awoke her from her thoughts and she dashed into there. Luckily, no one had been sitting near the window, but the floor was covered in sharp shards and Xander was looking very impatient 

"Why is it always the windows?" Buffy ignored him, for she'd spotted the brick that had clearly caused the damage sitting in the centre of the room.

"What's that?" Xander lifted it carefully, and pulled off a rag, and a note that was attached

"'Guess who's back in town. We have your vampires. We're at…'" Buffy snatched the document from him, and scanned the address, memorising it, before glaring hatefully at the signature below the words.

"Drusilla"

"But what's this?" Xander dangled the blood stained cloth in front of her, and Buffy focused on it

"It's part of Angel's shirt."

* * *

"Spike?" Angel asked cautiously as he forced himself into a standing position. The bleach blonde vampire had just launched himself towards a wall, and was now staring into space, with a look of horror on his face, "Spike? You okay?" for the first time, Spike's yellow, frightened eyes met his, before a transformation over took him, and all emotion was lost. 

He'd heard others made reference to the change that overcame Spike sometimes. The reason Giles wanted him dead, and that most potentials feared him. He'd never listened too intently to conversations of this type, for he'd never foresaw himself in a situation where he'd have to deal with him. Now he really wished he'd listened

"Spike… It's me. Angel." The words had no effect on him. Spike slowly started forward, as he'd saw him do earlier when facing his imaginary opponent and Angel felt a sinking feeling. He was injured, weaponless, and trapped in a room with a psychopath… This would not end well.

* * *

Buffy felt at a loss. She knew that if she went to Spike and Angel's aid, she would be walking straight into a trap, yet what else could she possibly do? She needed them in more ways than one, and she was unsure if she'd be able to live with the remorse she felt if she didn't go to help them. She glanced around the room once, and then again at the now assemble crowd, many of whom had no idea what was going on. 

"Xander, Willow, come with me" she decided, and choosing her largest sword, and sharpest stake from the weapons chest, she led the way out of the room.

* * *

"This is so weird" Willow announced from their hiding place, as one of the many bleach blonde vampires walked past, oblivious to their stares. They'd made the journey to the abandoned hospital in record time, and thus far had been unable to think of a plan that didn't have in a high probability of death. 

"We're just going to have to go in and see what happens" Buffy decided

"I really don't think…" Xander began, wondering exactly when he'd become the 'sensible' member of the group, but Buffy was already gone, striding confidently into the open. Reluctantly, he followed, Willow close behind.

* * *

After killing numerous vampires, Buffy the voice of her old enemy 

"Slayer, I knew that you would come"

"Dru" she turned slowly on her heel, and was sickened to see her holding Willow to her chest, with Xander struggling with another blonde behind them, "Long time no see."

"Poor Slayer has a choice to make" Dru murmured, drawing a long fingernail down Willow's cheek, leaving a trail of blood behind, "Stay here, and save the Wicca. Go on and save the vampire." Buffy's mind began to race. She'd said vampire in the singular sense, which meant that she only had one, didn't it? But who?

"Buffy…" Willow sounded pleading, before Dru snapped a hand over her mouth and shook her head

"Bad Wicca wants the slayer to save her. So selfish."

"I… Willow…" Buffy began, knowing what she had to do, but before she could complete her sentence, she heard the twang of a crossbow and Drusilla exploded into dust, revealing a shaking Xander behind where she used to be.

"Go Buffy!" Willow ordered, and she nodded, running in the direction Dru had indicated, and where she knew at least one of her vampires was in danger.

* * *

Whatever she had been expecting, it was not the sight that greeted her upon finally bursting through the correct door. Angel and Spike were both brawling on the ground, Angel in particular looking the worse for wear. She raced to their side, and somehow forced the blonde vampire off his grandsire. One look at Angel's beaten body, and Spike's expression told her everything she needed to know. 

Her ex-lover turned on her next, moving faster than she would normally have expected from the recently ensouled vampire, tackling her and pressing her against the wall, making them closer than they had been since Spike's attempted rape. For the first time, she noticed the glinting knife he was holding, raised above his head, ready to swing downwards and she began to whisper with a sense of urgency

"Spike, it's Buffy. This isn't you. You wouldn't hurt me. I know that. Fight it Spike, please." His arm relaxed a little, and Buffy pressed her advantage, "That's it Spike, put it down." She raised a shaking hand to his face, and forced herself to stare into his blank, yellow eyes.

Suddenly, the knife fell from his hand and onto the floor with a clatter, and the emptiness was replaced with confusion

"Buffy? What's…?"

"It's okay" she mumbled, overcome with relief that she was still alive. Almost subconsciously, her hand moved from his cheek to the back of his head, and she pulled him downwards towards her, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss.

* * *

**Press the big blue button!**


	20. How she Feels

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter**

**I know.. I'm a bad updater... tisnt entirely my fault. Site malfunctions and homework being the main problems. anyways if you're all stil interested in this, please review.**

Spike was the first to pull back, completely taken by surprise. The last thing he remembered was standing above Angel, and despite plotting different ways to get rid of his grandsire for years, when it came down to the moment he knew he would actually do it, he found himself fighting it with all his will.

Then suddenly, the darkness lifted, and as if he were awakening from a long slumber, he'd blinked, and Buffy was in front of him, concern and fear deep within her eyes. He'd murmured her name, and she'd replied, and then suddenly, inexplicably, they were kissing.

His eyes met hers again, and he blinked slowly, unsure what to say to the woman he loved. Fortunately, she was the one who spoke first, concern clouding her face

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. The First took control of me again." he frowned, struggling to recall anything, "I think I hurt Angel." The blonde slayer's gaze instantaneously shifted to a spot directly over Spike's shoulder upon his words, and he turned almost automatically, half expecting to see a pile of dust.

However, Angel was still alive bloodied on the floor, looking both physically and emotionally destroyed. He waited expectantly for Buffy to brush off their kiss, however this time she did not.

Seconds became minutes and still no one moved, or said anything, until finally, Spike knew something had to be done. He crossed the room slowly, and offered a hand to the vampire. Almost reluctantly, Angel accepted, and stumbled heavily to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.

"Angel" Buffy spoke to him for the first time since her entrance, "You okay?" Spike thought that it was a pretty stupid question to ask, considering the circumstances. The guy had just been tortured, and then had just witnessed his ex girlfriend kissing his rival.

"Fine" Angel grunted in response. Buffy walked to his side and slipped herself under Angel's shoulder, meaning to support him like she'd helped Spike what seemed like so long ago, after his own personal torture at the hands of the Ubervamp. Unlike Spike however, he shrugged her off upon contact and stumbled forward a few steps unaided, in the general direction of the exit.

"Angel…" Buffy tried, but her attempt was met with silence

"Maybe you should leave him, love" Spike suggested from behind her, watching his grandsire with a mixture of pity and relief

* * *

Just over an hour later, Angel was unconscious in his bed, having gone straight to it upon returning home, speaking to no one. Spike had disappeared 'to think' a quarter of an hour before, and Buffy was restlessly pacing the kitchen. She looked up as Willow walked in

"Oh hey" she sighed wearily, "I thought you were Spike."

"Sorry" Willow slipped into a chair at the kitchen, "What happened down there?"

"If I'd walked in a minute later, Angel would have been dead." Buffy mumbled, "And it would be properly dead this time. Not like before."

"It's not your fault Buffy; you couldn't have known what was going on." Willow began, but she was interrupted by her troubled friend

"There was a moment when I thought Spike was actually going to kill me"

"He would never do that."

"I know he wouldn't do it on purpose" Buffy snapped irritably, "But he's not the one in control anymore"

"But he fought them, didn't he? And he won."

"And then I kissed him" Buffy revealed, causing Willow's mouth to drop open ever so slightly and her eyes to widen, "In front of Angel. And he hasn't spoken to me since. I tried to help him get to the car, and he practically ran from me"

"Well what do you expect?" Xander's voice came from the doorway, "They're both in love with you, Buff, and you're hurting both of them."

"Since when do you care?"

"I don't" Xander snapped back, "But unless you want them to start brawling in your living room, you should get some self control"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that sooner or later, they're going to fight, and maybe one of them won't survive. Personally, I'll be rooting for Angel, but I don't really give a damn either way" Xander shrugged, "Oh, and Willow was held hostage too, remember? I haven't heard you asking her how _she_ feels."

"Of course I care about Willow, but..."

"But your precious vampires are more important." he finished dryly.

"If that's what you think, then maybe you should leave"

"Fine" all anger, all passion disappeared from Xander's voice in that one word and he turned away from her, "If you remember who your real friends are, you know where I am" as the door clicked shut behind him, Buffy rounded on Willow

"Are you leaving too?" guilt rose up in her as she saw her friends old 'deer caught in headlights' expression and she softened her tone, "I'm sorry, Will, I really am. I'm just under a lot of pressure lately and…"

"I understand" Willow nodded, although Buffy wasn't sure if she did.

* * *

"Angel?" Giles whispered cautiously, well aware what the consequences would be of waking the vampire that night. He received no response, and he was just about to depart, deciding that it could wait until morning, when he heard a faint, agitated

"What?"

"I _think_ I have a way to cure Spike"

"Cure how?" the voice came from the darkness, "Face-wise?" he referred to Spike's inability to change

"No. Trigger-wise" his words were met with a deathly silence

"So you're not going ahead with the plan?" Angel eventually spoke, his tone hard to read

"Perhaps we will have to, if this doesn't work…"

"And if it does?"

"Then of course, you and Wood are free to do as you see fit, but I want no further part of it."

"Part of what?" Spike asked, appearing silently behind Giles.

"Nothing." Giles replied hastily, "It's late. Spike, you and I need to have words in the morning."

"Okay…" Giles slipped out the door upon his affirmation, not wishing to remain any longer with the two vampires in the dark cellar.

"Have words? What do you think that's about?" Spike asked the darkness as the door fell shut behind the ex librarian. A cold silence met his words, and Spike swiftly climbed down the stairs and sat on his bunk

"Not speaking to me now?" he asked calmly as he pulled off his boots and fell back onto the bedding.

"I'm trying to sleep" Angel's gruff voice replied

"Fine"

A few moments later, Spike felt himself beginning to doze off, when Angel's voice interrupted his slumber

"How did you and her even happen?"

"I loved her." Spike started with the simplest answer, the solid fact that had defined everything he'd done over the past few years, "And she was miserable."

"She didn't love you?"

"No. She didn't" Spike recalled the last year in particular with a rising feeling of self loathing.

"Good" Angel's voice was barely above a whisper, and Spike got the feeling that the elder vampire hadn't intended he and his superhuman hearing making out the final word

"Night Angel" he sighed, rolling over

"Night" Angel's tone was slightly less hostile than before as both vampires closed their eyes once more and drifted off,


End file.
